Just A Dream?
by BlinkAndYouDie
Summary: Erin has been having mysterious dreams for the past three years.. and they all center around one man.. the Doctor. But are they all just dreams?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Not completely sure how well this will blow over. The idea sort of just popped into my mind, and I felt the need to start writing immediately instead of planning a bit first. Plus, this is only my second story. So, I would really appreciate reviews. Thanks.**

**Disclaimer: As nice as that would be, I do not own Doctor Who. At all.**

The robot pressed forward, chasing the man and me. I'd known him for so long, and I still didn't know his name. The only way I could recognize him anywhere was by the same brown suit he always wore. He would always walk up to me with a kind smile on his face, and invite me to go somewhere with him. And, though he was just a stranger, I always accepted.

We stopped as the man decided where to go next. The robot continued to inch toward me, and I just stared at its eyestalk. Fear crept inside me as it pointed its weapon at my chest. Tears began to stream down my face.

The man grabbed my hand, and pulled me the other direction. The robot shot its laser, and it barely missed my leg. I ran alongside the man for what felt like hours until we reached another alley.

"Are you alright?" He asked as he gasped for breath.

I nodded, though I felt exhausted. "Do we have to run anymore?"

The man looked around. "I don't know. I don't know if they will come back."

"What are they?"

"They're called Daleks. Their sole purpose in life is to kill."

I shivered. The man smiled sympathetically. "I'll protect you."

Finally, the lucid moment I had been waiting for happened. "What's your name?"

"The Doctor." He said with the same kind smile on his face.

As I was about to question, I followed the Doctor's gaze toward the sky. Twenty-something Daleks floated in the sky.

I backed up against the wall, hoping the Doctor would do the same. Instead, he stood up and held his arms up.

"Don't hurt her." He yelled defiantly. "Kill me instead."

"We will kill the Doctor!" They yelled in their monotonous voices. They all directed their weapons at his chest.

"No!" I yelled, getting up. The Doctor motioned for me to stay against the wall.

He turned around and looked me in the eyes. "Thank you, Erin. Thank you." He then turned back to face the Daleks.

"No!" I yelled again, but it was too late. They simultaneously shot their weapons at the Doctor, and he staggered to the ground.

* * *

I woke up suddenly, with my sweat causing me to stick to my sheets. I wiped away the tears that were sticking to my face, and pulled myself out of bed. The clock read 6:38, but how could I go back to sleep?

I looked in the mirror at my reflection, a very distraught, puffy, tangled-hair one, and ignored it, proceeding to open my dresser drawer. I pulled out my dream journal and flipped to the only empty page that was left. It surprised me how often these kinds of dreams were happening.

I flipped through the pages casually, just to glance at the dates. When I came to the first page, the date scribbled at the top was January 15, 2008. So, almost three years these dreams have been occurring. Not every single night, but about once a week. The first one was so… stunning, that I had to write it down. Since then, I knew that these were all somehow connected, so I proceeded to write all of them down.

As I wrote down the happenings of the most recent dream, I thought back to the very first dream I had about this man. I wasn't involved in this dream, I only watched from the side, but it was so amazing, so spectacular, so… real.

I was sitting at home, watching the news, when reports of this space ship that was floating above London started playing on the news. Suddenly, I was there, in the space ship! I was afraid of the aliens, so I hid behind this blue box that had popped in the same time that I had. I then watched several people try to fight for the freedom of the Earth. Their attempts were failing, and I knew I was going to die along with them.

But, something happened. The doors of the blue box opened, and I heard a man's voice. When he stepped into view, he began to ask weird questions… not directed to the aliens, or the other humans, but to _himself_.

I couldn't help but giggle, and he looked at me. I froze, and he just smiled directly at me. He then saved the world in the course of about fifteen minutes.

Ever since then, I had been a primary part of the dreams that involved him. I was always by his side in saving the world. In three years' worth of dreams, I had more fun than I had had in my entire lifetime.

Except for last night. Last night's dream was more like a nightmare. The man... the Doctor... how could he just die? He was the most amazing person I had ever met, even though I had only met him in my dreams, and he just _died_ like that?

But… it was all just a dream, right?


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thank you for the positive reviews! I think I've figured out for the most part what will happen in this story, so hopefully it will turn out well the rest of the way through. Please continue to leave me reviews!**

**Disclaimer: If I didn't own Doctor Who yesterday, I still don't own it today. **

I placed the cap back on my pen and stuffed it in the back of the diary. I pondered what to do with it, now that it was full. Maybe since the Doctor died in my most recent dream, I wasn't meant to have another one about him. I held back the sudden urge to cry as I delicately placed the diary beneath the variety of papers in the drawer, and shut it. I whirled around to my closet, and decided to change and start my day early. I changed into a dark gray t-shirt and dark blue jeans. I slipped on a pair of gray Converse, and grabbed my leather jacket. I frowned as I realized that the current color scheme I was wearing had been identical to the ones I had worn the past few weeks. I really needed a new wardrobe.

I quickly walked down the stairs and into the small kitchen. I looked at the couch, where Myrna lay asleep, with an empty bottle of beer grasped in her hand.

I shook my head as I made some toast. I had no idea why I continued to rent here. She was the worst possible person to stay with. I hated being poor and desperate.

I decided to skip toasting my bread, and just buttered it. I quickly ate the bread in a few bites. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and walked out the front door.

As I shut the door, I realized that not only did I lock myself out, but it was also only 7:00 on Saturday. What exactly was I supposed to?

I decided to go to the mall. Not that any of the stores were open, but it would be something to just walk around and look at everything. I grabbed my ratty old mountain bike and started to bike down the rocky road.

It was a pleasant summer morning, with the wind just barely blowing and the sun only having just risen. I always found it easier to ride my bike in this type of weather, even with the badly paved road.

Suddenly, a huge, unexpected gust of wind hit me on my right side, and I fell off of my bike. I grabbed my bike and pulled myself into the grass, barely avoiding an oncoming car.

I used the bike for support and pushed myself up, trying to figure out what happened. I then looked at where I had fallen off of my bike, and I almost fainted in awe at what I saw.

A blue box. A _real_ blue box. I looked up at the words printed at the top. _Police Public Call Box_. I had always wondered what it said in my dreams. Now I knew. But... what was it doing here?

I pushed myself up once more, and stood up. Leaving my bike behind, I slowly began to walk toward the box. When I reached it, I touched the white sign posted at the front. It was _real_.

I began to hear moving around inside. I quickly backed up and ran behind the box. As I stood behind it, I couldn't help but continue to feel that it was indeed real, and not a part of my dreams.

Suddenly, I heard the doors opened. I stopped feeling the box and slowly peered around the corner. The doors shut, and a man walked forward. He looked around for a few seconds, then turned to face the TARDIS.

That's when tears began to break the surface and slip down my face. It was him. It was the Doctor. In the flesh. _Alive._

I quickly regained my composure and wiped my tears, for I feared that he would hear me. Yet somehow he did. He turned to exactly where I was standing, and he smiled. The exact same way he had in the first dream.

Except, this time, instead of turning around to save the world, he began to walk toward me. My heart began to pound. Why was the man from my dreams walking up to me in real life?

He smiled again. "Hello. Do you know Erin Houston?"

I began to shiver. I quickly shook off my fear. "Yes, sir. I'm Erin Houston."

"Oh, hello! I received your message." He pulled out a pad of paper and tapped it with his hand.

"What? I didn't send you a..." I questioned.

"Yes, you did. See?" He opened the pad of paper, and it showed a note scrawled in my handwriting, simply reading _"Help me, Doctor._"

He closed it, and I noticed the soft look on his face had hardened a bit. "What do you need help with?"

"I… I…" I stuttered. He began to look angry, and my face just grew red.

Suddenly, a scream came from the house we stood in front of. The Doctor's face flicked up to the window where the scream originated, and he began to run toward the house. "Come on!" He yelled as he ran. I ran at a slightly slower pace behind him.

He tried to open the door, but it was locked. He quickly reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a device I was also familiar with-his sonic screwdriver.

He pressed the button, and it buzzed while he unlocked the door. As he opened the door, he met my gaping stare. "It's a sonic screwdriver." He said with a small smile as he ran up the stairs.

"I know." I mumbled as I followed.

I followed him into the master bedroom, and saw him kneeling beside an unconscious woman. I kneeled next to him, hoping to be of some assistance.

He turned to me. "Are you a doctor?"

"No," I answered, "I'm a high school graduate."

He rolled his eyes, then turned back to the woman. As the Doctor tried to feel her pulse, the woman abruptly woke up. She sat up and smiled a sweet but fake smile. "I am perfectly fine. You may leave my house now."

"Ma'am, you were just on the floor unconscious. I feel that there is a need for some medical…"

"I said get out!" She yelled, sitting up. The Doctor began to get up, but I remained stationary. She looked at me, and I noticed a faint green glow in her eyes. "I said get out!" She repeated to me. I quickly pushed myself up and followed the Doctor.

When he left the room, he stopped. He looked at me. "Did you notice anything?"

I nodded. "Her eyes glowed green."

"This means…"

"It's a Graske."

He turned to me with a puzzled look on his face. "How did you know that? What year is this?"

"2011."

"Then how do you know about aliens?"

I didn't want to say anything about my dreams. I was afraid of what his response would be. "Erm, I just do."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, then looked back at the bedroom door. "If there's a Graske in there, that means there is a trapped human on Griffoth, their planet."

"I know." I said quietly, but I could tell it didn't escape his ears. "Does that mean we're going to go there?"

"Yes, it does." He said, turning to me. "Come on, then." He began to run down the stairs.

I followed him. "Does that mean I'm coming too?"

"Obviously." He said when he reached the blue box. As he unlocked it, he smiled, knowing my shocked reaction would arrive soon.

And it did. Of course, I had seen the wonderous machine from the inside in my dreams, but I never imagined I would be in it in real life, or that it would really be this immense inside.

"It really is bigger on the inside." I muttered. I turned to the Doctor, who was pressing buttons at the console. "What is it called?" I never asked that question, either, in my dreams. The only lucid moment in my dreams occurred in that final one.

"It's called a TARDIS." The Doctor said, patting the console. "Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. The best machine in the entire universe."

I grinned in agreement. I ran up to the console next to him, and watched as he pulled a few more switches. The entire machine jolted, and we both grabbed the console for support. When it ceased, he looked at the screen for a moment. He then swiveled the screen around so I could see. "We are now on Griffoth."

"Where on Griffoth?"

"Not completely sure." He pushed himself away from the console and ran to the door. He opened it, then quickly shut it. "Right where we need to be. In the middle of their military base."

I jogged down to where he was, and he opened the door slightly once again. I watched as hundreds of armed Graskes marched past. "Why don't they see us?" I asked curiously.

"Perception filter." The Doctor said casually. "They only see us if they really want to. Granted, it usually only makes it look like a normal police box that's supposed to be there, but I turned up the power so it isn't noticed at all."

I nodded. He then shut the door and ran back to the console. "We need to infiltrate their prisoner chamber and free the woman."

"What about others? Shouldn't we free them as well?"

"If we can. We'll be lucky if we can even get in." He said as he pressed a few buttons, then pointed to the screen. "That's where they are headed. There is a room slightly beyond the prisoner chamber that they are going to. It looks like a weapon chamber."

"What does that mean for us?"

"Little significance. But we can slip into the line so we can get to the prisoner chamber unnoticed." He began to run to the door.

I followed him. As he opened the door, the Graskes were still marching past. I looked down the hall, and the line was almost ending. The Doctor nodded at me as we quietly slipped out the door, and he shut it. As the last of the Graskes passed, we slipped in behind them and quietly followed the line of Graskes.

As we turned around the corner, the slick floor caused me to slip. I didn't fall onto the ground; I just hit the Graske in front of me. The Doctor tried to pull me into the corner to hide, but it was too late. It, along with others surrounding it, turned around and saw me.

"Intruder!" It yelled. It turned to the Graske next to it. "What should we do with it?"

The Graske started pulling my arms in various directions and examining my other limbs. The Doctor stayed in his spot, but I nodded for him to continue. He mouthed, "I'll be back", then he continued to follow the Graskes.

"It looks human." The Graske said as he let my arm fall back to my side.

"You don't have to call me 'it', I'm a woman." I said crossly.

"Shut up animal! We will have her sent to the lab to be scanned for technology and information."

"What?" I asked. But before I could get anything else out, the Graske had already jammed a tranquilizer into my arm. They grabbed me by my limbs and began to take me the opposite way down the hall. A few seconds later, I was unconscious.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. And I'm pretty sure I never will. **

I woke up who knows how much later, with my body strapped to a table. I looked up to see a large silver lamp hung above the table, with an odd-shaped blue light bulb placed in the center.

"Ah, you've awoken." A voice from the other room said in a sickeningly sweet tone. A figure stepped out of the shadows, and a tall, oddly formed humanoid stepped into the light. I attempted to perceive exactly what it was as it walked over to me.

"Let's get to work." It sat down on a small stool and moved the lamp directly above my head.

"Wait!" I protested. It groaned and pushed the lamp out of the way, and turned on one on the lab table. Its face came into view, and I gasped.

"Are you…" I began shakily.

"Yes, I'm a half-human, half-Graske hybrid. Stop staring." It snapped. By its dark red lipstick and oddly-colored streaks of blush on its face, I came to the conclusion that it was a woman. "What do you want?"

"W-well, first off, what exactly am I doing here?" I stuttered.

"Well," she said as she pushed herself to her lab table, pressed a few buttons on the desk, and moved back, "you are an intruder. Meaning, you are most likely a spy. We are scanning your body for alien technology and scanning your brain for information."

"What? Is that going to hurt?"

"Quite possibly. If there's any information in there of interest, it will be extracted from your brain."

My eyes widened, and she just smiled an evil grin.

"But I don't have any weapons! You can check my pockets, my pants," I began to pat my pant legs, "and, I swear, I'm not a spy. I know nothing that you would be interested in."

"Oh, it is necessary to do a body scan. We've seen the places you humans have hidden your weapons. Nasty." She sneered. "And do you honestly expect me to believe you? Sal! Winthrop! Plug in the scanning device!"

I saw two Graskes immerge from the darkness and waddle to the other end of the room, where two large switches were tacked onto the wall. They both pulled on the first one.

The light bulb began to glow, and she moved it back over to my legs. The sensation the scanner caused created a tickling, yet burning feeling. She slowly moved it up my body.

When she reached my hips, it beeped. I shivered, and she motioned for the Graskes to search my pockets. The one pulled out my cell phone, while the other pulled out my wallet.

"Nothing in here." The one with my wallet wheezed. The other fumbled with my phone for a moment, then nodded in agreement with the other.

"Throw them out, then. We will finish the body search." She commanded. The Graskes crushed the two items of mine in their hands, then threw them in the trashcan. She continued to pull the scanner up my body, until she reached my head.

"Switch off the body scanner, and turn the brain scanner on!" She yelled to the Graskes. They nodded and slowly alternated the positions of the switches. The light glowed again, this time a darker blue. She pressed a button on the top of the lamp, then pushed her chair to the computer. The sensation changed to one that just burned.

She flipped a switch on the desk, and familiar images began to flash on the screen. Soon, the same images flashed inside my mind as well. My head began to hurt more. Sound soon kicked in, and I began to scream. It hurt so much…

__

"She's a killer queen..."

"You gave me incorrect change!"

__

"Gunpowder, gelatine…"

"You're late once again, Miss Houston."

__

"Dynamite with a laser beam…"

"I WILL kick you out of this house, Miss Houston!"

"You're not worth it, Erin."

"You never really were my friend."

__

"Guaranteed to blow your mind…"

"Are you Erin Houston?"

The images and noises stopped. Only one image burned in my mind, and was paused on the screen: the Doctor.

I tried to stray my thoughts away from him, hoping that they wouldn't find out anything about him. The half-human, half Graske stood up and walked over to the table. She then pointed a finger at the screen. "You know this man?" She yelled sharply.

I remained silent. She slapped my face and pointed at the screen once again. "Where is he? Where is the Doctor?"

"Looking for me?" A familiar voice called from behind me.

The pain in my face subsided as the Doctor walked up to the table I was strapped on. He pointed his sonic screwdriver at the lamp, and it shut off. He pointed his sonic screwdriver at the ropes, and they broke. I tried to sit up, but the pain from the scans and rope burns prevented me from sitting up. The Doctor motioned for me to stay on the table.

He walked up to the half-human half-Graske, and examined her. "Why would you ever want to splice together a human and Graske? It's just disgusting…" He motioned at the face of the half-human half-Graske.

"Silence!" She yelled defiantly. "It was my bidding! I saved the lives of these two," she motioned to the two Graskes shyly sitting in the corner, "and I decided to create a better species of them!"

"Well, that certainly turned out well." He muttered. He turned to the screen and looked at the frozen image on the screen. My cheeks flushed red.

"Why are you interested in finding me?" He said, turning back to the half-human half-Graske.

"The Graskes have expressed wishes to have you eliminated from the universe." She said. "They feel that they can complete their missions easier with you out of the way."

He pushed aside her comment. "What about this?" He motioned to the lab. "Why are you testing on her?"

"She was a spy, and we were scanning her mind for information."

"Information?" He protested. "You honestly think some girl wondering the halls of the military base without any weapons is going to have information? My word!" He pulled out his sonic screwdriver once more and aimed it at the computer screen, and it exploded. The two Graskes rushed to pick up its remains on the floor, while the half-human half-Graske screamed in fury.

I finally had the energy to push myself up, and I followed the Doctor out the door. "Security breach!" The half-human half-Graske called as we ran into the hall.

"Did you get the woman yet?" I asked when we reached the prison chamber.

"Hadn't gotten to that yet."

"Well, what were you doing while I was in there?"

"Trying to find you!"

I paused as the Doctor finally managed to get the door open, and we ran inside. Hundreds of people -and other life forms- were lined in individual holding tubes. The pain I felt for these people burned in my heart. I looked around frantically for the Doctor, who was searching for the control panel.

"Where is it?" He yelled in angst. "Who makes it this hard to find a control panel?"

"Halt!" A menacing voice called from the other end of the room. I hid behind one of the tubes and watched as they grabbed the Doctor and handcuffed him.

When the Graskes looked away from where I was positioned, I stepped out of my hiding spot to see the Doctor. He nodded at my feet. I looked down at my feet, and there lay the sonic screwdriver.

Without much thought, I picked it up and aimed it at the Doctor's hands, pressing the button. A second later, the handcuffs broke. He quickly spun around and ran past the Graskes before they could realize what was happening.

I ran parallel to the Doctor toward the center of the room. I could hear the Graskes trying to keep up behind us. I quickened my pace as I noticed the control panel come into view.

As the Doctor examined the control panel, I turned around to see the Graskes running only a few yards behind. Thinking quickly, I pointed to the ceiling, pressed the button, and stepped back. A few seconds later, the ceiling collapsed, halting the Graskes.

As I ran to the Doctor, he marveled at what I had just accomplished. "Nice job!" He exclaimed.

I smiled. He directed his attention back to the control panel, and pressed a large green button. I looked up at the tubes, and watched as the prisoners began to slowly dematerialize.

I smiled, and I looked to see the Doctor was doing the same. He looked over the debris from the ceiling, and noticed the Graskes were immerging.

"Come on!" He said loudly, and I followed him out the door. We quickly ran through the halls, catching the attention of more Graskes. Some of them ignored us, but a majority of them chased after us. When we reached the hallway where the TARDIS was parked, we saw more Graskes, along with the half-human half-Graske, running toward us from the other end of the hall. The Doctor snapped his fingers, causing the TARDIS doors to open, and he ran inside. I quickly trailed after him, but as I stepped inside the TARDIS, something grabbed my arm. I turned to see three Graskes holding on and pulling hard.

"Doctor!" I called as I tried to resist their pulls. He ran over and grabbed my arm, and quickly pulled it. The Graskes released their grasps, and the Doctor quickly snapped his fingers, and the doors shut.

I looked down at my arm, and noticed the dark red scratches the Graskes had left on my arm. I also noticed the rope burns had reddened. The Doctor examined my arm. "Are you going to be alright?" He asked.

"Yes, I'll be fine." I said, now noticing that I wasn't wearing my leather jacket. "They took my jacket."

"Leather interferes with scanner frequencies." The Doctor said.

I nodded. He walked over to the console and began pressing buttons. "Oakland, Maryland, Earth; January 3, 2011." He said as he fiddled with the rest of the controls. Soon, the TARDIS began to jolt, and I grabbed onto the railing. Moments later, it stopped, and the Doctor walked to the door.

He opened it, and we walked out. We had landed in the exact same spot the TARDIS had been in earlier. We looked up at the house where the woman had been captured, and saw the silhouette of the woman and her child hugging.

The Doctor stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets and looked at me. "Do you know her?"

"Nope." I said. "I think she moved in last week."

"How did you know she had been captured by a Graske?"

"I… didn't. I had no idea a Graske was at her house."

"Then why did you call me here?" He pulled out his pad of paper and showed me the message.

"I didn't." I said awkwardly.

The Doctor bit his lip, and looked back up at the house. "Well, there was trouble, so thank you for the help, Erin."

"You're welcome." I said, not sure what to do next. I looked up at him one last time. This was the man in my dreams, who had somehow become a part of reality. It was a dream come true, literally, and now I had to go back home.

As I turned around to walk home, I heard him call, "Would you like to come with me?"

I stopped dead in my tracks, and turned to face him. I slowly walked up to him, and examined his face. He _looked_ human, but he couldn't be. In my dreams, I always presumed that it was just the fact that it was a dream that inspired an extraordinary man who traveled in a magical blue box and fought aliens. But now that he was real, I realized that he couldn't be human.

"You're an alien too." I finally said quietly.

"Yep." He said casually, as if he was told that often.

"And you would take me to see more aliens?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

"Not just aliens. I could take you back in time to watch inauguration of George Washington, or the very first Olympic games. We could go to the year 3000 and watch World War 3 being fought from the sidelines. We could go to a completely different planet in a completely different galaxy in a completely different time period. We can do whatever you'd like."

"Will it be as dangerous as this was?" I asked, knowing the answer to this question as well.

"More dangerous than this." He said. He paused, then asked, "Would you like to come with me?"

I hesitated, looking back at my neighborhood. The one thing holding me back from enjoying life would finally be left behind-my old life. I looked back up at the Doctor and smiled. "I'd love to."

**Author's Note: I'm not completely sure if this chapter turned out as well as I hoped for it to be, but I did my best. Hope you caught what I was referring to with the comment she mentioned about the weapons, haha. Please continue to review! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: I'm hoping this chapter turned out well. I tried to squeeze in as much as I could, which may not have been the best idea. Still, I hope that readers understand what's going on and that it is well-received.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. Ha, now you can't sue me.**

The Doctor smiled, and I followed him back into the TARDIS. He ran up to the console and began pressing various buttons, and I leaned against the railing.

"So, where would you like to go?" He said as he flipped a switch. He shifted his eyes up to me. "You have the whole of time and space at your fingertips."

"I… I don't know." I said. "I've never really thought about it."

The Doctor paused for a second, trying to decide where to go. "What's your favorite band?"

As I was about to answer, he said, "No, wait, hold on." He quickly examined me, then looked back up at my face. "Queen?"

I stared at him in astonishment. "How did you know?"

"Well, other than the fact that I have psychic abilities and can see that because they scanned your brain, the song Killer Queen is repeatedly being played in your head right now," he paused for a breath, "I don't know, you just seem like the type of person who would like Queen." He flipped another switch. "I met a girl once who really enjoyed their music, and you..." he looked up at me again, "I dunno, you just seem to remind me of her."

"Is that why you were so quick to invite me on your ship?" I asked abruptly. I knew a lot about him, and though he was quick to make a new friend, he wouldn't necessarily be so quick to invite somebody to travel with him.

"You seem so.. familiar." He said, gazing off into the distance. "Like I know you from somewhere." He straightened up and flipped another switch. "Why were _you_ so quick to join me? Don't you have family and friends?"

I stared at the floor. "Not exactly."

The Doctor gave me a look of genuine sympathy, but quickly changed the subject. "Still, I could be this evil intergalactic kidnapper, and.."

"I honestly doubt that, seeing as you just saved hundreds of people from the Graskes." I said, walking up to the console.

"But you seem like _you_ know me from somewhere. When you first saw me, you looked at me as if I'm an old friend that you weren't expecting to see again."

I straightened up and blushed. "I'm interested in exploring the galaxies."

He clapped his hands together. "Alright then!" He pressed one last button, causing the TARDIS to move uncontrollably. We both grabbed the console for support. "But first," he yelled over the noises from the TARDIS, "Knebworth Park, August 9, 1986."

As the TARDIS landed, I gasped. "That was Freddie Mercury's last concert."

"And would you like to be known as the youngest person to attend it?"

I smiled as we ran out the TARDIS door. I wasn't completely sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn't what I came face-to-face with.

In front of me was a small field, covered with freshly grown corn. I heard the noise of a tractor in the next field, and I looked over to see that it was _floating_ above the crops. As it floated above each crop plot, the crops at exceedingly fast speeds, so that by the time the tractor was above the next crop plot, it was fully grown and ready to harvest.

"2086, somewhere in Midwestern United States." The Doctor said while I was still soaking all of this in. "Oops."

"You never could land in the correct year, Doctor_." _I muttered as I resisted the urge to giggle. "They had flying tractors in 2086?" I asked.

"Oh yeah." The Doctor said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Flying cars, too."

"Wow." I said in awe.

"The human race has definitely excelled."

I looked around as if I expected more.. because I sort of did. I guess being a major Back to the Future fan made me expect flying cars to have been around much longer than just for the past few years. "What other things have been developed?"

"Hmm.." He looked around for a few seconds, then faced me once again. "They've developed technology to grow crops quickly, as seen here," he motioned to the tractor hovering over the crop plot, "they've further developed technology like the cell phone and telly, they've definitely had a few successful missions in space, loads of other stuff. Oh, and they also have found a cure for the common cold."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. And I can't believe it took them this long to figure out! It's so simple, all you need is-"

The Doctor was interrupted by a scream coming beyond the field. His head spun around to where the scream originated, an old house situated just past the small field of corn. The Doctor began to run toward the house, and I followed after him. As we came into the vicinity of the house, we attracted the attention of the dog leashed to the house. It barked ferociously as the Doctor attempted to unlock the door with his screwdriver. It continued pulling on the rope, and I noticed that it was starting to rip.

"Doctor.." I tugged on his jacket sleeve, and he looked at the dog, then at the rope. He pressed the button one last time, and the lock unlocked. He opened the door and gently pulled me, still staring at the dog, inside, just as the rope broke.

He shut the door and quickly locked it. "Haven't you ever seen a dog before?"

"Not one that big."

"There are dogs slightly larger than a fully grown lion in this decade."

"What?"

"I'll explain later." He motioned up the stairs, where the noise of a girl softly crying carried down the stairs. "Come on." He motioned.

Just as he stepped onto the first step, the door creaked open. I jumped back, and a tall, older man with his finger looped in the dog's collar stomped inside. He glared at me, then at the Doctor. "What are you doing in my house?" He asked in a husky voice, with a trace of a Southern accent.

The Doctor pulled his hand out of his pocket, revealing the same pad of paper he had showed me earlier today. "House inspector. This is my apprentice."

"Apprentice?" He asked, looking at me. Then a huge grin developed on his face. "You must be part of the old way of life! Come on! I'll get something to drink for all of us!"

The Doctor shrugged, and we followed the man into the kitchen. He poured three glasses of juice, and set them before us. "I'm Paul, by the way. Paul Huggins. I'm glad that there are some people out there that still support the old way of life!"

"Really? There are only a few?" The Doctor asked.

"Yeah! They've all switched to the new system. It's sickening. That's why I live here with my daughter." He motioned to the house. "I teach her here the way I was taught. I don't want any new-fangled ways of doing things to ruin her mind."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"They've developed a completely new system for teaching! No more school," he pointed to me, "no more apprentices, just technology."

"What sort of thing are they using?"

"My, you're certainly out of the loop!" Paul said, then laughed heartily. "You must be an outsider as well?"

"Err, I suppose so." I said awkwardly.

"It's alright, I am too. I mean, I live out here, don't I? My niece visits me in the summer and tells me all of these things, though. Not that I want to know, but she certainly is a babbler." He chuckled again. "Anyway, they have these wires that are hooked up to computers, and they basically inject them into their bloodstream like IV's, and they feed the information in them that way."

"That's horrible!" I exclaimed.

"It was bound to happen eventually." The Doctor muttered.

"Doctor!" I turned to him. "You can't just let these kids learn like that. What if the system gets corrupted? What if there's a virus or something? All of those kids could go out on a wild rampage or something!"

The Doctor leaned back and hesitated, then said, "You have an excellent point, Erin. Do you happen to have a computer, Paul?"

Paul nodded, but had a grim look on his face. "That'll do you no good. They completely changed the Internet. If you want to use the Internet, you need the new system."

"Oh." The Doctor said, trying to figure out what to do.

"As much as I despise it, I have one you can look at. My niece spends the summers here, and she leaves hers here even when she is back home."

"Alrighty, then. Let's get to work." He turned to me. "You go, err, inspect upstairs, while I check out the 'new system'."

I nodded, and as the Doctor followed Paul, I got up and slowly made my way upstairs. The crying had not ceased, but it was slightly more hushed than it had been before. It sounded like she was talking to somebody as well.

I tip-toed to the door, and pressed my ear against the door.

"Why don't you open it?" A male voice said anxiously.

"Why should I?" The same female voice said between tears.

"I know what's in it, and it can change your life forever."

"No, you don't! You don't understand what is in there."

There was a pause, and more crying erupted from the girl.

I slowly turned the doorknob, and opened the door. A teenage girl and boy sat on the bed, with the boy holding a small white locket in his hand. They both turned to me in shock.

"Who are you?" The girl said, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Err, house inspector." I said.

"Those are still around? I thought they weren't a part of the new way of life."

"Umm, yes, they are. I'm currently in training, but.. umm, there aren't a lot left."

"Oh." The girl said, blushing.

"Why are you in here?" The boy said, standing up.

"Alec, don't." The girl said, holding her hand up in protest.

"Shut up, Harmony! If you won't listen to me, why do you expect me to listen to you?" He said. Harmony burst into more silent tears.

He turned back to me. "You should have knocked. And do you have papers proving that you have permission to inspect this house?"

"Umm.." I said, barely remembering that law in the back of my mind. "That isn't important now. What are you doing to hurt her?"

"I'm not hurting her!" He protested. "I'm trying to show her." He held up the locket.

"What significance does that have?"

He rolled his eyes. "You don't know; you are an idiot who is against the new system, too. This locket holds the life of an alien creature!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Alec, please stop." Harmony protested. "I don't believe you, anyway."

"Well, believe it!" He ran over to her and held the locket to her ear. "You hear it, don't you? The voice. The voice calling for help."

"Stop it!" She ripped the locket out of Alec's hand and threw it across the room. "I can't listen to it anymore!"

"Then open it." He walked past me to the corner, where the locket had been thrown. He walked over to Harmony and carefully opened the locket. Wisps of yellow energy began floating into the air, and Harmony screamed.

"Stop it!" She yelled, shutting it. "It's just a locket, alright? A stupid white locket!"

I heard footsteps behind me, and I turned around to see the Doctor running into the room. He looked at Alec, then at Harmony, and figured out what had happened. "Get out." He said, pointing to Alec.

Alec groaned and threw the locket onto the ground, then stomped out of the bedroom. The Doctor bent to the ground and picked up the locket, and I sat down on the bed and comforted Harmony.

"Why was he trying to get you to open it?" I asked her quietly.

"He's been trying to get me to open it for weeks." She wiped her eyes. "We found it in an old box last month, the day before his parents forced him to use the new system. He convinced me to wear it because he said it would make me look even more beautiful than I already was." She laughed sadly, then continued. "I wore it for a week, and whenever I did, it felt... weird. You haven't read the Harry Potter books, have you?"

"Plenty of times."

She smiled. "It's nice to know I'm not the only one who has read the classics. Anyway, when Harry would wear the Horcrux, he would always feel... different. He would always inherit a bit of Voldemort's personality while he was wearing it, because the locket contained a piece of his soul." She paused, and more tears began to stream down her face. "With me, when I wore it, I always felt scared. Scared and alone. Like the world was going to end, and I would lose everybody. Which, I already had in a sense. All of my friends either switched to the new system or turned against me because I always followed the old ways. My parents both passed away, and all I have is my adoptive father." She looked back up and smiled. "Which isn't a bad thing. He is a wonderful man. He just gets.. caught up in his work. He's an activist, you see, trying to get families to switch back to the old way of life. He goes out every night and speaks to groups of people. It hardly ever works, but he occasionally gets some people to switch back. And whenever he isn't speaking, he's working on the fields. I only ever talk to him at meals. So, I guess in a way I can relate to it."

"It meaning the locket?"

"Yes. It's alive, and I understand that, but I don't want to believe it. Alec found out a few days after he had been using the new system that it held something important. He always pressured me to listen to it and learn more about it, and, because I loved him, I did. It was so painful, though, because it lost everybody. Nobody of its kind is left."

What she was saying sounded vaguely familiar, as if I had heard a story similar to it before. I tried to think about where I had heard it before, but I was interrupted by the Doctor standing up and walking to the bed. He had a sad expression on his face.

"What's wrong, Doctor?" I said, looking up at him.

Harmony looked up at him too, and seemed to know what was wrong. "You understand."

He nodded. "I'm more than just understanding what this is, I know exactly what it is."

"What?" Harmony and I said simultaneously.

"It's from my planet."

**Author's Note: Ahh, cliffhanger! Don't make any conclusions, though, because I can assure you that it isn't a Time Lord. I think that the explanation of it all may turn out.. weirdly, but it's going to become a major part of the plot. I know I'm sort of drifting away from the more important part of this adventure, but, like I said, this part is necessary to include. We'll return to that next chapter, hehe. Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Doctor Who. **

"Your... planet?" Harmony asked in shock.

"He's an alien." I informed her casually. "Though," I turned to the Doctor, "what planet are you from, exactly?"

"Gallifrey." He said slowly. "It's... gone now-"

"But it will still be remembered." Harmony finished. "It mentioned something about a place called Gallifrey."

The Doctor smiled a half smile at her, then continued, "Gallifrey is the home of the Time Lords, and I am one of them. Anyway, during the Time War-"

"Time War?" Harmony interrupted.

"A war between the Daleks and Time Lords." He answered. "Anyway, during the War, the Time Lord President and his Cabinet came to the decision that they needed something to... I guess do a Time Lord's job for them, while all of the Time Lords were fighting the War. So, they created the Time Pixies."

"Time Pixies? How do you just create a species?" Harmony questioned.

"They were genetically mutated Time Lord children." He choked. "It was absolutely horrible of them to do, but they did it anyway. They knew the children weren't prepared to fight, so they decided to put them to work instead. They altered their DNA so they would be able to travel through time and space and change unfixed points in time for the better.

"About three-fourths of the way through the War, they called all of them back, and had them checked. They realized that they had malfunctions, and-"

"Malfunctions?" Harmony and I said simultaneously. "How does a species have malfunctions?" I asked.

"They were genetically mutated, but they were still children. They caused trouble during fixed and unfixed points in time, and the Time Lord President had to put them to rest."

"But what does that have to do with this?" Harmony pointed to the locket.

"Time Pixies were very similar to Time Lords in genetic structure, and in order to contain a Time Lord's biology and memory, you use a chameleon arch and put them into this." He pulled out a fob watch and opened it. "Empty now, but when necessary, it holds a world of knowledge and memories."

"So, basically the life of a Time Pixie is contained in this locket?" Harmony motioned to the locket again.

"Yes. And, by the looks of it," he held it up to his ear and smiled, "it has matured."

"How has it been matured if it has been contained inside that for who knows how long?" I asked.

"Because this locket was carved out of a White Point Star." He said, tracing his thumb across the surface of the locket. "With a fob watch, the biology of the Time Lord remains stationary until it is opened; the White Point Star has the power to slowly mature its containings over time. That's why they put the Time Pixie biology in here, you see." He casually tossed it into the air and caught it. "They had no idea how much longer the War would last, so they planned a way to mature the Time Pixies over time so that they would be ready for use eventually."

"Let's open it, then!" Harmony explained.

The Doctor and I both stared at Harmony, bewildered. "So, after you've been scared and afraid when you just held it, you want it to become you?" I asked.

Harmony's face hardened slightly. "You're right. All of that... it's gone. It would sometimes talk of the beauty of a faraway place that it wished to be at once again, but would never be able to return to. It somehow knew about the demise of the War, and it was sad."

There was a silence, and Harmony's face brightened again. "But still: being able to travel through time and space certainly sounds like fun."

"It still gets pretty lonely." The Doctor said sadly, then looked back down at the locket. "Either way, I'm not completely sure if it's ready to be opened. I may have to take it to the laboratory and examine it before it should be opened."

Harmony frowned. "What am I supposed to do until then?"

"Well, what do you usually do?"

"Sit around doing nothing." She looked down at the floor. "The Internet doesn't work, and my dad won't let me use uTunes anymore…"

"What's uTunes?"

"Oh, basically you place this little chip in the back of the right side of your head, and it puts a song in there permanently, to listen to whenever you want." She knelt down and looked under her bed, then pulled out a rectangular, silver chip. "You just sort of shove it into the back of your head, and the music sort of just seeps in."

"Let me see that." He took it out of Harmony's hands and examined it, then a worried look developed on his face. "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no.."

"What?" I asked, looking over his arm.

"Do you see that symbol?" He pointed to a small symbol on the back of the chip that looked liked a disfigured pi sign. "That is the symbol of the Peritis, the race that lives on the planet E-2."

"Peritis?" I questioned.

"They are one of the smartest creatures in the universe. They always had interest in the human race, but never to this extent." He quickly took out his sonic screwdriver and flicked through the settings, then pressed the button. A blue hologram materialized, showing a series of numbers and letters.

"Hold on." He placed the chip in my hand, and pulled out his glasses. He quickly scanned over the characters. "It seems like some sort of telepathic code." He finally stated. "Harmony, how long before the new system did these chips come out?"

"About five years. My father only let me get one, and it was of this really old song by this British singer... Pixie Lott or something..."

"Never mind that. Did your father ever use them?"

"No. He was always very conservative and didn't usually let himself use all of this new technology. The newest thing that he purchased was his tractor." She jabbed a finger toward the window.

"The tractor must not have been created by the Peritis, then." The Doctor said, tapping his temple with his screwdriver. "Have you ever expressed interest in using the new system?"

"Not really. Once or twice, maybe, but I don't really care anymore." She shrugged.

"And Alec and his family. What about them?"

"I'm not completely sure." Harmony said, staring at the floor. "He always said that his parents could never afford electronics like that when they were kids, and decided to indulge now. Alec, he was smart before he got the new system, and he only used a few."

"That explains it, then!" The Doctor clapped his hands together. "They used these chips to hypnotize the users to try the new system! But why?"

"I guess that's what we need to find out." I said. "What did you find on the system downstairs?"

"It was actually broken, but basically it's a wire hanging out of a large computer. The tip was very sharp, which is probably how they get it to penetrate the skin like an IV."

"Can you track where its signal comes from or something?"

"I can certainly try." He got up and placed the chip back on the bed. "Harmony, stay here, and do _not_ open that locket."

"But, you said it matured, so it wouldn't have any more malfunctions." Harmony protested.

"I can't guarantee that it won't have any more malfunctions, and... well, it's difficult to explain. Just, don't open it."

"Doctor, I want to open it!" She exclaimed. She grabbed the locket and began to open it slightly.

"Harmony, no!" The Doctor reached forward and shut it. "You don't know what you're doing. As soon as you open this, you die. You die, and you turn into this creature. You won't get to see what it's like to be a Time Pixie; only the Time Pixie will remember what it was like being human."

Harmony's face immediately fell, and she leaned back on the bed. "Okay." She finally mumbled.

The Doctor took the locket and carefully slipped it into his pocket. "Would you like to come help us?"

Her face brightened a bit. "Really?"

"Yeah, I'd hate to leave you out of the fun."

Harmony smiled and pushed herself off of the bed. She and I followed the Doctor down the stairs and into the guest bedroom, where the machine sat on the bed.

"I can't get it open for some reason." The Doctor said as he kneeled on the ground before it, and Harmony and I sat on the bed. "It isn't deadlocked, so maybe I'm just on the wrong setting." He began fumbling with his sonic screwdriver. "Ah!" He said after a moment's silence. "I think this is what I should try." He traced it over the edges of it, and the one side popped up out of its place.

"There we go!" He exclaimed. He began to open it. "Let's see what.. we.. have." He stared into the computer.

"What is it?" I asked. Harmony stood up off of the bed and looked inside. Her eyes widened. I decided I wasn't going to get an answer, so I stood up too and looked inside. I gasped.

It was a brain. Not a human brain, but a brain nonetheless. It was large, and took up the entire space of the computer, which seemed more like a large metal case. It was dark blue, and it had wires protruding from it that all connected to one spot on the other side of the metal case.

"Ah." The Doctor finally mumbled. "That's how they did it."

"Is that..."

"A Periti brain. They're trying to send all of the information in this brain to the average human brain. But why?" The Doctor pondered. "Why would they want to do that?"

"But, it's a brain. You don't need some sort of signal to power a brain." I said.

"You're catching on." He said with a smile. "But now that we know that isn't a computer getting a signal from somewhere, we need a different method of finding their location."

"Maybe it knows." I suggested.

"Possibly." He pointed his sonic screwdriver at it, and another blue hologram with numbers and letters materialized into the air.

The Doctor put his glasses on again, and quickly read what it said. "They keep slipping that telepathic code between everything, so it's difficult to read what it says.. oh, here we go. There are stations in every single city across the planet that monitor the use of all of the systems." He looked down at the brain, then at Harmony. "Harmony, where is the nearest city?"

"Des Moines, but it's about three hours from here."

"It will only take a moment to get there. Come on, Erin." The Doctor said, standing up and walking to the door.

I stopped him before he shut it. "Doctor, what about Harmony?"

"She can wait. This won't take too long." He shut the door.

"Doctor, why can't you let her come?"

"I'm not just going to let anybody on my ship, Erin. You obviously knew something about aliens, and were interested in helping me, so that's why I allowed you to come with me to stop the Graskes."

"But she wants to see aliens! Did you see how interested she was in becoming a Time Pixie?"

The Doctor looked at me for a moment, then back at the door. He rolled his eyes. "I'm too nice these days, my word." He opened the door a crack, and yelled, "Come on, Harmony, we're waiting."

I smiled, and the Doctor just rolled his eyes again. Harmony opened the door and smiled, and followed us to the TARDIS.

**Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who is leaving reviews! I'm doing my best to post one chapter a day, but sometimes I get a little stuck on what to include, but I will keep up with writing it. I hope that the idea for a Time Pixie isn't weird.. or just wrong, in a way that it contradicts with anything. **

**Oooh, thought I'd mention that this whole fanfiction takes place sometime between "The Next Doctor" and "Planet of the Dead", and yes, the title is slightly based off of the title of that Nelly song, haha. Though it fits in perfectly with the story!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. If I did, would I really be spending my time writing on here? **

"You can't possibly travel in _that_." Harmony pointed to the TARDIS. "It's too small!"

"It works perfectly fine for us." The Doctor said as he unlocked the door.

"You two must be pretty close, then." Harmony muttered. I held back the urge to respond.

The Doctor pushed open the door, and walked inside. Harmony followed after him, and stopped in the doorway. I smiled as I looked at her flabbergasted face from the side.

"It's... it's..."

"Bigger on the inside." The Doctor and I said in unison. He looked at me for a moment in curiosity, then smiled. I smiled in return, then tapped Harmony lightly on the shoulder to proceed inside. She finally took a few steps inside, and I slipped in behind her, closing the door behind me.

"But, this is impossible! You can't just squeeze this entire room into a tiny little box!"

"Harmony, you just learned today of alien existence, and that the locket that you own holds the biology and memories of a Time Pixie, and you're questioning this?" He motioned to the room.

Harmony sighed and continued to walk up to the console. "So we're traveling in here to get to Des Moines?"

"That is correct." The Doctor replied as he fumbled with the buttons and switches on the console. "We aren't going too far, so it shouldn't be too bumpy." He informed Harmony and me. He pressed a button, and I could feel the TARDIS moving beneath me. It shook a moment later, but it was a lot less jolted than it usually was after a landing.

"Come on, let's see where we landed." He said, grabbing his trench coat and slipping his arms into the sleeves. "I'm pretty sure I landed somewhere in the vicinity of the station." He opened the door and quickly peered outside. "Hmm, close enough." He commented as he stepped outside.

Harmony and I shrugged and followed him out the door. As we stepped out, we realized we were on a large plot of concrete. We looked to the left, and realized that we were right next to the door of the "E-2 Station".

"Close enough." I repeated under my breath. The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver, and in a moment, the lock unlocked. He quietly pushed open the door and we followed him inside.

We were stopped by large boxes placed near the doorway. They appeared to take up a majority of the space in the room. The Doctor pressed the button on the sonic screwdriver again and held it out like a compass, then pointed to the right. We followed him between the boxes and out into an open hallway.

He evaluated where to go, and began to walk down the hall. I caught up next to him, while Harmony trailed slightly behind. The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out the locket, holding it in front of us.

"These creatures are smart. Smart beyond your belief. Some may actually be smarter than me. If it is absolutely necessary, and I trust you to know when it is, I need you to give this to Harmony and have her open it. Only when it is absolutely necessary." He told me in a hushed tone. I nodded in response. He placed it in my hand, and the coolness of its touch sent shivers through my body. I quickly placed it in my jean pocket.

We turned around a corner, and I saw two men walking down the hall. The Doctor pulled Harmony and me back behind the wall, but it was too late. They had seen us.

"May we see your ID?" The taller one inquired.

"Of course." He pulled out the same pad of paper he had used earlier and showed it to them. "See?"

After a moment's silence, both men chuckled. "You honestly think that we are idiots?" The shorter one said. He pressed a finger to his ear. "Bring security down to floor two, hallway seven. We have intruders."

"Well, we tried." The Doctor said aloud, then mouthed, "Run!" to us, and began to run the other direction. Harmony and I quickly followed after him, with the two men behind us.

"Erin!" The Doctor yelled, turning around briefly and tossing me his screwdriver. I knew what to do immediately; I turned around and pointed to the ceiling, and a large chunk of it crashed to the floor before the men.

We turned around the corner, and I tossed the Doctor his screwdriver. We ran a bit further, then stopped at a door. He used his sonic screwdriver to unlock it, and we ran inside.

It was a cleaning supply closet. It wasn't very large, so I was pressed between Harmony and the wall while the Doctor decided what to do next.

"Peritis always keep the most important equipment on the first floor, and if this is floor two-" He knelt down and started running his sonic screwdriver over one of the floor tiles.

"So that thing can do basically anything?" Harmony asked me, pointing to the sonic screwdriver.

"Almost. It doesn't work on wood or deadlocks."

The Doctor looked up at me in confusion. "_How_ exactly did you know that?"

I shrugged, still not willing to admit my dreams to the Doctor. He groaned and continued to loosen the floor tile.

"How long have you been traveling with him?" Harmony asked.

"Not that long. For me, a day ago, but for you, it's more like 75 years."

Harmony stared at me in disbelief. "So, that thing is a time machine as well?"

"Yep."

"Well, I can certainly tell you aren't from this decade by the way you dress." She motioned to my outfit, and I noticed hers contained more flamboyant colors than I was used to.

I just nodded in response. "If you've only traveled with him for a day," Harmony began, "how do you know all of this? You act like you know more than what you can learn in a day's worth."

I hesitated, trying to decide whether I should tell her or not. Before I could open my mouth again, the Doctor shouted "Yes!" in ecstasy. I turned to him to see that he had successfully removed the tile from the floor. He motioned for us to walk over to the hole in the floor.

"It appears that we are above... a restroom. Hmm." He gripped the sonic screwdriver and slipped his hand through the hole, then pulled it out a moment later. "There is nobody in there at the moment, but I suggest that we move quickly."

"I'll go first." Harmony said, stepping right next to the hole. "I would love doing this sort of stuff in the barn as a kid."

"Okay, well, hold on a-" The Doctor started, but before he could finish, Harmony had already jumped through the hole. The Doctor looked down to see that she had landed perfectly fine on her feet. He rolled his eyes and turned to me. "Are you able to jump down that easily?"

I shook my head. "I've always been a bit afraid of heights."

"Oh, it won't be too bad. Only ten feet." The Doctor commented. "But, I understand. Hold on a moment." He sat down with his feet hanging in the hole, then he slowly pushed himself through the hole.

I looked down to see that he had landed the same as Harmony. "Now, jump down the same way I did, and I'll make sure you're down safely."

Suddenly, I heard clicking. I turned to the door to see that the doorknob was shaking slightly. I looked back down at the Doctor. "Someone's trying to get in!" I said quietly.

"You need to pull something over the hole." The Doctor called.

I looked around to see what I could pull over, and I noticed a cart of cleaning supplies tucked in the corner. Thinking quickly, I grabbed a broom and placed it in the door frame, hoping to stall a bit longer, and dashed to the other end of the room. I started pulling the cart toward the hole as quickly as I could. Before I could realize where I was, I had misplaced my step, and slipped through the hole.

I was still holding on to the cart as I was halfway through the hole, and it had tipped over. I looked up to see that it was covering the hole. I groaned as I realized that somebody would eventually pick it up and see the hole.

"Erin, it's fine." The Doctor said, reading my thoughts. "Just jump down now."

I pulled my other arm to the bar on the cart, then dropped myself. I looked down to realize that I was falling a few feet away from the Doctor, and I ended up hitting the ground very hard on my bottom.

"Ow." I groaned as the Doctor came over to me. He held out his hand to help me up, and with it I pulled myself up.

"Sorry." He said quietly.

"It's alright." I said, looking up at the hole. "They're going to find it soon."

"It's fine." The Doctor repeated. "It may be a few days before somebody decides to go clean up the mess in there."

I looked back up at the hole. The cart still sat there, but I could see it moving. "Or a few minutes." I said, feeling stupid.

"Run!" The Doctor called. Harmony and I followed him out of the restroom and into the hallway. We turned around a corner, and the Doctor noticed a map on the wall. He stopped us and went to examine the map.

"The monitoring room is that way." He pointed to the opposite direction. He started walking that direction, and Harmony and I followed him.

"What are we going to do in there?" Harmony asked.

"Investigate why they are taking over the minds of humans, and attempt to shut down their system."

"Good luck doing that behind bars." A sinister-sounding voice behind me taunted.

All three of us spun around to see a burly security guard standing behind us with his arms crossed. "Maybe you should have made your escape a little less obvious."

Now I knew I really screwed up. Harmony just sighed. The Doctor walked between Harmony and me, and I felt even worse. But he just grasped our arms, saying "And again!" He pulled us back, and we turned around and began running alongside of him.

"Is it always like this?" Harmony asked me. "Running?"

I smiled. "Always."

We rounded another corner, but were stopped by six security guards. As we turned around to run the other direction, we were again stopped by the same burly security guard.

"Well, this is fantastic." The Doctor muttered sarcastically. Two of the guards grabbed my arms, while the other four grabbed Harmony's and the Doctor's. They began walking us the opposite direction down the hall, with the burly security guard leading the way.

They walked us into a bright office and placed us on the couch. The six security guards stood in front of the two exits, while the burly one walked into a different room.

"Why are we in here?" Harmony whispered to the Doctor.

"They're going to question us before they lock us up." He muttered.

I looked up, and a large, older man entered the room along with the security guard. He examined us and laughed. "So three humans just waltzed in here uninvited? Mac, bring me my scanner."

The burly guard nodded, and entered the other room once again. The man walked up to us and examined us closer. "You three are obviously hiding something. A man and two teenagers would have no business in here, unless..."

"You have no business taking over the minds of the human race." The Doctor muttered loudly.

"Ah, that is why you are here. To find out why we are here." He stood back. "If you read the telepathic codes, then you must also know that we are not just normal humans."

"But you aren't even humans." The Doctor said, reaching his hand into his pocket. Without lifting his hand out, he used the sonic screwdriver to change the appearance of the man into his true form.

He was large, just like his disguise, but much larger. He was dark blue, and had many wrinkles in his skin. His eyes and other facial features were hard to see on his face, for there were so many wrinkles and flabs of fat. He had a dome-shaped head with dark gray hairs outlining his head. I'd seen worse looking creatures in my dreams, but Harmony's face looked absolutely disgusted.

Mac entered the room again, this time holding a small silver tool. "Freshly charged, Maxwell."

"Thank you, Mac." Maxwell took the tool out of his hand and held it up, pointed at us. He pressed the button, and a blue hologram materialized. It appeared to be showing an x-ray of each of us. I looked over at the Doctor's, and two hearts were shown beating. I gaped at this, and so did Harmony.

"Ah, I see." Maxwell turned off the tool, and slipped it into his pocket. "You're not a human, either. You are, in fact, a Time Lord." Maxwell began pacing around the room. "Didn't they die out?" He taunted.

The Doctor scowled at Maxwell, while he just laughed. "And you're traveling with two human girls... why?"

"They are assisting me." He answered calmly.

"Assisting you? Two humans assisting you?" Maxwell laughed again. "They're idiots! Why do you think we're here?"

"Actually, that's what I came here to find out." The Doctor sat up.

"Ah, well, I may as well tell you." Maxwell stopped pacing and looked at us. "Humans, as fascinating as they are, are idiots. They know nothing compared to us. They're so infatuated with unimportant things like music and movies, that they hardly leave aside time for collecting knowledge."

"That is what schools and colleges are for." The Doctor interjected.

"Obviously, they aren't affecting them enough. And, other than the fact that humans _need_ this knowledge, we need them. Well, we need their planet."

"Why?"

"We need more room. And these humans rarely dwell in the tundra areas, so those places will be perfect for us to settle. We could even use the humans as our servants. But we could not possibly even consider living here unless we would be able to live amongst those like us, so we took the minds of willing volunteers, and used them the send all of the information known to the universe into the mind of a human."

"So you're just going to casually come in and take over the planet?"

"We've already taken over it. Only few remain that do not use our system. We shall kill them off when the planet is ready."

Harmony shuttered, and I wondered how the Doctor could possibly stop this. He looked doubtful as well, but I could tell he was thinking of something.

"Time Lord," Maxwell addressed the Doctor, "you know plenty of knowledge, correct? Obviously, not as much as we, but certainly enough, I presume?"

"More than you can ever imagine." The Doctor responded, still scowling at him.

"Wonderful. We will take your mind and use it to improve their minds." He pointed to Harmony and me. Harmony stared in disbelief, fear creeping into her eyes, and I couldn't believe that this was real. All of this seemed like a dream, because I was so used to them, but I had to realize that this was somehow reality.

"Take him to the laboratory. I'll deal with these two later." Maxwell commanded the security guards. They nodded, and grabbed the Doctor.

"No!" I yelled in protest. "You can't take him!"

Harmony was already crying, and I felt like my life was going to end. They were going to kill the Doctor, then turn us into their slaves. I watched as they took him out of the room, and he turned around and gave me one last look. They shut the door, and I felt that all hope was lost.

Maxwell just smiled at our displeasure. "When they return, you will be taken to our confinement facility. When they have successfully removed the Doctor's brain, you will be brought back here to have the information fed into your minds."

I couldn't respond; I was too angry. He smiled once again, and sat back down in his chair.

I tried to think of what I could possibly do at this moment to save the Doctor, and then I remembered the locket. I pulled Harmony next to me, and pulled out the locket. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

She wiped away her tears and nodded. "It will be a better life. And I can save the Doctor."

"But you heard what he said. You die when you open this. He said that if there's an emergency I was to have you open it, but I can't just make you die without your consent."

Harmony paused for a moment. She looked back at Maxwell, then back at me. "I think that this life is worth much more than my own."

"Harmony, don't say that." I protested.

She just smiled. "Thank you, Erin. Thank you for helping me with this. And thank the Doctor too." She took the locket out of my hand and held it in hers. She shut her eyes, as if she was envisioning something, then she smiled. She opened the locket, and the wisps of energy left the locket and entered her body.

**Author's Note: I hope that this chapter wasn't too wordy or anything. I have exams this week, but hopefully I can still keep up with writing. Please continue to review! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. **

I wasn't completely sure what to expect when Harmony inherited the Time Pixie biology into her body, but I expected it to be something a bit more major than what I saw. Other than having a few seizure-like spasms and her face turning extremely pale for a moment, there wasn't a lot more than that. She looked exactly the same as she had as a human, except her face had much more brightness in it.

Maxwell had noticed something as well. He wasn't completely sure what was happening, so he pressed his finger to his ear, calling for more security, I presumed. I looked back at Harmony, who was regaining her composure. She looked up at me and smiled.

"I'm back! I'm finally back!" She clapped her hands together. "After so many years, I'm back!" She walked up to the window to view her reflection. She marveled at her curves and facial features. "And certainly looking a lot better as well!" She giggled.

"Harmony?" I asked.

She didn't respond right away; it took a moment to realize I was addressing her. She spun around and looked at me. "Erin, right?"

I nodded. She smiled and ran up to me, giving me a tight hug. "Thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks to you, I'm back!" She grinned again.

"Well, actually, I only gave it to you because the Doctor-"

"Whoa, who?" She paused a moment, holding her finger up, then exclaimed, "Oh, right! We'd better go get him!"

I looked over at Maxwell, who was just staring at Harmony. I smiled at his confusion; Harmony was busy thinking. She finally looked over to him. "Oh, hello. Forgot you were in here."

Maxwell examined her for a moment, then stated, "You're not human anymore."

"That is correct." She walked over to him and patted his head. "Looks like you live up to the expectations of the Peritis. But," she stepped back next to me and gripped my arm, "I honestly doubt that you will be able to figure out how I did this."

Before I knew what was happening, the room before me disappeared, and I was moving quickly through a vortex.

"Holy crap!" I screamed. Harmony just sighed and covered my eyes with my other hand.

A few seconds later, my feet hit the ground, and Harmony removed her hand from my eyes. I looked around, and we were in an empty hallway.

"You're supposed to keep your eyes _shut_, silly." Harmony commented as she let go of my arm and began examining the room.

"How did you do that?" I questioned hysterically.

She rolled her eyes and looked at me. "I'm genetically mutated; they wired TARDIS technology into my DNA, meaning I can travel through time and space. Time Pixies are like the super-Time Lord. We don't need technology; we _are_ the technology."

I stared at her in awe. She rolled her eyes again. "Where did they take the Doctor, again?"

"They were taking him to the lab or something."

"Right." She walked up to the wall, where a map was posted, and quickly scanned over it. "We need to take the elevator." She began walking the other direction down the hall, and I followed.

"So, you can teleport out of that room, but you can't teleport to where the Doctor is?"

She sighed as she pressed the button for the elevator. "There was no way we could get out of there with the security guards at the door, and that guy being able to call more guards. Plus, they have no idea where we teleported. We're on the top floor in a completely different wing. We can get to the lab without the need of teleporting. It takes a lot of energy out of you, anyway, especially since I just entered this body again."

The elevator door opened, and we rushed inside. She pressed the button for the third floor, and the doors shut. She leaned against the wall and looked at me. She had a curious look on her face. "When did you meet the Doctor?"

"It was just today, I suppose. I helped him save some prisoners at a Graske base, and he asked me to travel with him. We intended to go to 1986, but we ended up here."

She walked up to me and swiped her finger on my forearm, then brought it up to her nose and sniffed it. I looked at her questioningly, but she just asked, "Were you fascinated with aliens beforehand?"

"In a way, I guess." I paused a moment, deciding whether or not I should tell her of my dreams. "I was always horrible in science, but I loved science fiction, and... I had these... these dreams. Dreams for three years about aliens. They were always so fascinating."

"Were these dreams connected?"

I looked up at her. "No, not that I'm aware." I lied.

She gave me another questioning look. "You're lying."

Before I could respond, the elevator doors opened. Harmony began walking down the hall, and I quickly followed after her.

"So, is your name still Harmony?"

"No, that name was chosen by her human parents." She said. "My name is... well, you'd never understand it, or even pronounce it correctly, so I guess I'll go by Harmony. That name sounds pretty, anyway."

I nodded, and we stopped in front of a door. There was nothing indicating that it was the laboratory; only the number "2012" was written on the door.

"What is 2012 supposed to mean?" I asked.

Harmony shrugged, and placed her hand on the doorknob. It unlocked a moment later, and she slowly opened the door. I peered inside, and the room was empty. The only thing occupying the space was the operating table, and a few tables with medical tools lined on the surface. We began to walk inside.

"Did they..." I started, praying that it wasn't the worst.

"No." Harmony said. She pointed to a transparent case on one of the tables. "It's empty. It would be in there if they already did it."

Suddenly, the doorknob of the door on the other end of the room began to wiggle, and we quickly slipped underneath the operating table.

"Sir, if you won't allow me to sedate you, then I will have to operate on you without it." A gentle but firm voice said.

"I'm aware of that." The familiar voice of the Doctor responded. I smiled in relief, knowing he was still alive.

"Sir, I don't want to see you have to go through all of that pain."

"Why do you work here, then?"

There was a pause, then the other broke into sobs. I looked at Harmony, who had a sympathetic look on her face, and she began to crawl out from under the table. I followed her.

We stood up, and looked at the Doctor, who had his arm comfortingly around the other, who was a female Periti-tall, slim, a lighter blue than Maxwell was, and wearing a white lab coat. He looked at us with a shocked look on his face, but looked back at the Periti.

"Did they force you here?" He asked.

She nodded. "I'm supposedly one of the most brilliant surgeons on my planet." She laughed sadly. "They forced me to come here, and said they would kill my family if I didn't." She started to cry again.

"Well, I'll do my best to get you out of here, I promise." He said softly. She nodded, and he let go of her. He looked at Harmony and me. "Did you open it?" He asked me.

I nodded. "I had to. We wouldn't have been able to get out if I hadn't had."

The Doctor nodded. "We should probably hurry, then. There's another surgeon coming soon, anyway."

That moment, the door we came through opened, and we bent down again. But it was too late; he saw us.

It was the other surgeon. He still had his human disguise on-a tall, handsome man wearing a lab coat. He looked down at us with a shocked look on his face. He started to put his finger to his ear, but he looked at the Doctor, who was pointing his sonic screwdriver at him.

"That can't hurt me." He said matter-of-factly.

"Eh, it was worth a shot." The Doctor put it away. "So you're just going to call security _again_? Is that really how you solve all of your problems?"

He gulped. "Many Peritis are not fit for physical duties. Therefore, we instruct others to do it for us."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. The surgeon pressed a finger to his ear again, and the Doctor gripped my arm and the female Periti's. "Harmony?" He asked, looking at her.

She nodded and gripped my arm. I shut my eyes, and I felt the floor disappear. I didn't dare open my eyes, though I was curious to see the vortex again. In a few seconds, we all fell to the ground.

"Ah, probably wasn't the best idea with four people." The Doctor commented, standing up. I looked around to see that we were outside.

"What are we supposed to do now?" I asked, standing up with Harmony.

"Is there a central power source, umm," He asked, motioning to the Periti.

"Jayla May, sir." She said. "Yes, there is one in the basement that controls the power for everything."

"Alright, then." The Doctor clapped his hands together and started walking to a window. He pulled his screwdriver out and began running it across the hinges.

Soon, the hinges loosened, and he managed to pull the window off. He slipped through quickly, and everybody else followed after him.

The Doctor immediately ran over to the control panel, and began flipping off switches. "They can just turn them back on, you know." Jayla May informed him.

"I'm trying to get their attention. If they won't listen, I'll have to call the authorities."

A moment later, I heard footsteps down the stairs. I turned to see Maxwell, along with about twenty security guards, marching angrily toward the Doctor.

"Now, now, let's just wait a moment." He said, waving his hands in the air. "I have a deal for you, Maxwell."

"I'm listening." Maxwell said, holding up his arm to keep the guards back.

"You shut down this whole project and recall all of the products, or I call the authorities."

"You honestly expect me to have this all shut down? I'm just one man; there are so many more of these stations across the planet."

"Get it all shut down, or I call authorities."

Maxwell rolled his eyes and moved his arm back to his side, and the guards began marching up to the Doctor. The Doctor held his hand up and reached his other into his pocket. He pulled something small out of it and placed it underneath the control panel. "I _will_ do it, Maxwell."

Maxwell froze in his place. "Halt." He said quietly. The guards stopped.

"Thank you." The Doctor said, standing up. "If you want some help shutting this down-"

"What are you talking about, Doctor? I made no mention of plans of shutting down this project. We will go through with the initial plan. Guards, grab the Doctor and his companions. Miss Halagroman, you will be sent back to C-2 to be imprisoned for life for treason."

Jayla May began to cry. The Doctor ran over to us and grabbed Jayla May's hand, then motioned for us to go. We began to run to the stairs. The guards followed closely behind. We finally made it to the main floor and started running down the long hallway to the door.

"Lock all exits!" One of the guards yelled. We quickened our speed, and the Doctor held up his screwdriver to the door. He pressed the button, and they flew open. We sprinted out the door, and he pressed the button again, causing the doors to quickly shut and halt the guards.

"What was that thing you put underneath the control panel?" Jayla May asked.

"Just a simple explosive device. I can trigger it to explode with my screwdriver. Speaking of..." He trailed off as he flicked through the settings. He finally hit the button, and I heard the distant sound of an explosion.

"Did you kill them?" I asked.

"Course not." He put it back into his pocket. "I just made it impossible for them to power the system for surrounding areas by causing their central power source to explode."

"They can always get a new one." Jayla May interjected.

"Well, while they're working on that, I'll call up some old friends of mine."

* * *

The Judoon handcuffed Maxwell and pushed him into their spaceship. One of them walked up to the Doctor and began talking to him in their language. The Doctor responded in their language, and they both nodded. The Doctor turned around and walked up to Harmony, Jayla May, and me.

"They're tracking all of the stations across the planet and shutting them down. They're recalling the products, and are sending a message to the UN to inform them that they will need to rebuild their schooling systems."

"It's going to take a long time for them to get back to normal, though." Harmony responded.

"I know." He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "But, knowing Earth, they will get back on their feet."

One of the Judoon walked up to Jayla May and gripped her arm. He said something in his language, and tears started to stream down her face.

"Oi!" The Doctor exclaimed. He said something in their language, and the Judoon let go of her and nodded, then walked away.

"What did you say?" I asked.

"She's innocent and was forced here against her will." The Doctor said. "They're allowing me to fly you back to C-2." He said, looking at Jayla May.

"Oh, thank you!" Jayla May exclaimed, wrapping her arms around the Doctor in a hug. He hugged her back, and she let go a moment later.

"Back to the TARDIS, then?" He asked, smiling. I smiled back, and we followed him back to the TARDIS.

* * *

"Oooh, I always thought that it was just a myth." Jayla May marveled as she stepped into the TARDIS. "Time machines that are bigger on the inside."

The Doctor smiled, and began to press the buttons on the console. A moment later, the familiar jolt of the TARDIS landing sent everybody holding onto something solid until we finally landed.

Jayla May let go, and smiled at the Doctor. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I will forever be grateful."

The Doctor smiled at her, and she walked to the door. "It was nice meeting you two girls, too." She said.

We nodded in response, and she silently walked out of the TARDIS. As she shut the door, the Doctor ran back to the controls and pressed a few buttons. When he had finished, he stepped back and looked at Harmony.

"Now, what are we going to do with you?"

**Author's Note: I apologize for not updating much this week. Along with exams and trying to not force myself to write (in hope that I won't eventually become bored with writing this story and stop), I was a bit blocked. I knew what I wanted to write, but I had no idea how to put it down. The original format of the chapter had Harmony acting incredibly Mary Sue-ish, and I didn't want her to come off as that. I knew that she would still end up being that way, but I believe I've made it so hopefully she won't come off that way (as much).**

**Also, I apologize if this chapter seemed a bit dull. Calling the Judoon to come and solve your problems may have not been the best idea, but I couldn't think of a better way to have the Doctor shut down the systems across the planet. **

**Please review! I'll hopefully have the next chapter up tomorrow or Saturday. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. **

**

* * *

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"Good question." Harmony leaned against the railing and folded her arms across her chest. "I really doubt you're just going to let me go."

"That is correct." The Doctor responded. "What happened to the other Time Pixies?"

"Forced against their will into a locket and dispersed across time and space. Most of them ended up on Earth, but I wouldn't be surprised if others made it elsewhere."

"Are you interested in finding them?"

Harmony scoffed. "Like they'd even listen to me. I'm sure they're enjoying their lives as whatever they were morphed into. It's not like we need one at the moment, anyway."

"What would you do, then?"

"Exactly what you do. Wander through time and space, save the universe from alien threats." Harmony walked up to the Doctor. "I honestly doubt you can stop me without making yourself look like a hypocrite."

"Actually, I can." The Doctor replied. "I need to take you to the infirmary to examine you. Check to see if you're fit to be wandering the universe and all."

Harmony rolled her eyes and followed the Doctor into the infirmary. I still stood in the console room, not completely sure what I should be doing. I finally decided to explore the TARDIS while I waited for the Doctor to finish with Harmony.

As I tried to enter the hallway, I found that I had somehow ended up in the library. I looked up at the ceiling, guessing the TARDIS had moved the rooms for me. I shrugged, and looked back down, and starting walking through the room. It was immense, with its ceiling going up farther than I could even imagine. The walls were completely lined with bookshelves, except for in the back of the room, where a fireplace had been placed. Big arm chairs and a long couch were positioned in front of the fireplace, and it had a very homey look.

I walked to the ladder placed near the door, and started climbing up it. I had no idea what type of book I was looking for, but I guess I would just search around until I found something.

Just as I had finished that thought, the ladder started to move slowly to the right. I gripped onto the side, until I realized that the pegs on which I was standing on were moving up as well. I gripped the peg above my shoulders and held on as the ladder moved. I guessed that this was the work of the TARDIS as well. It finally stopped, and I found myself about one hundred feet above the floor. I tried to avoid looking down as I tried to see what book the TARDIS had lead me to. I ran my finger over the book bindings as I read the titles, until I came across an extremely thick book entitled _The Non-fictious Chronicles of the Universe_.

I gave the book a curious; then looked up at the ceiling again. "Is this what you meant?"

I heard the TARDIS hum, presumably meaning yes. I slipped my arm through the pegs and grabbed the book, and as I pulled it out of the shelf, I could feel the ladder moving down again. I used my other arm to hold on until I reached the bottom. I mumbled thanks to the TARDIS as I carried the book to the sitting area. I sat down in one of the arm chairs and opened the book to the first page.

"You can read that later." The Doctor called before I could start reading. I jumped slightly in my chair at the sound of his voice, but I put the book on the table and walked out to where the Doctor was.

The TARDIS led me to the infirmary, where Harmony was sitting in a chair in the corner, with a displeased look on her face.

"She still has malfunctions." The Doctor said, pointing to the screen positioned on the wall.

"Why do you keep calling them malfunctions?" Harmony asked angrily. "We aren't robots."

"You were basically the outcome of a science experiment. The Time Lords wanted something to do the work for them, and they finally came up with you."

Hurt showed in Harmony's eyes, but she still kept the angry look on her face. "We're still a species, and you have no right to be putting us down like that."

The Doctor sighed. "Fine, problems?"

Harmony didn't respond, so the Doctor continued. "When her biology transferred back into her body, it didn't completely eliminate the human anatomy she possessed while a human." He picked up a remote and aimed it at the screen, and it changed to an x-ray of Harmony's body. "One heart, meaning she is half-human. She isn't going to live as long as a Time Pixie should."

"So, fine! I don't get to live to be thousands of years old!" Harmony exclaimed, standing up. "Can I just go now?"

"I'm not finished yet!" The Doctor said, starting to sound angry.

"Why do you even care? I'm just a 'science experiment', anyway."

The Doctor paused. "You're the only person left from Gallifrey."

"Yeah, it's gone now." Harmony said monotonously. "I've been completely alone for so many years now. Not even a friend to be there for me." She motioned to me. "Just me. All alone."

The Doctor looked genuinely sympathetic, but quickly continued. "Still, I can't allow you to run around the universe, not knowing what's going to happen."

"Fine. Conduct more experiments while I just die away." She got onto the bed and laid down flat on her back, crossing her arms.

The Doctor sighed, then turned to me. "Aren't you tired? It's been a pretty long day for you."

As soon as he reminded me of that, I yawned. "Guess so." I responded.

"Maybe you should go to bed. This should be finished by morning."

"Morning? We're in a time machine."

The Doctor laughed. "Goodnight, Erin."

I smiled in response, and turned around into the hallway. The TARDIS led me into a room that I presumed was designated as mine, and I walked inside. The room itself was simple, but it looked very comfortable. I quickly changed into the pajamas provided in the dresser, and got into bed. When I slipped under the covers, I couldn't imagine falling asleep, but before I realized it, I had fallen asleep.

* * *

"Doctor?" I said, shaking his body. I placed my ear to his chest, and could hear both of his hearts beating. I sighed in relief. I looked back up at the Daleks, who weren't even registering me being there. In fact, as I looked up at them, they had dematerialized.

I looked back down at the Doctor, who was starting to open his eyes. Before I could do anything, he was dematerializing too.

When he had completely disappeared, I felt once again like all hope had been lost. Where did they take him? Tears started to stream down my face. I wiped them away quickly; I needed to stay confident. He was still alive, which was better than him being gone forever.

* * *

I sat up quickly. I looked around to see that I was back in the bedroom in the TARDIS. I sighed in relief.

Another dream? I thought they were over. But the Doctor was still alive, which was good. Even though it was only a dream.

I wasn't sure what time of day it was, so I decided that I should get up anyway. I pulled myself out of bed and changed into a dark purple shirt, tan military jacket, and jeans. I opened the door and walked into the console room.

It was empty, as I had guessed. They must still be in the infirmary, I thought. As I started to walk to the infirmary, I almost walked into the Doctor, who was running down the hall.

"Ugh!" He groaned loudly, running to the console.

"Good morning to you too, Doctor." I muttered, turning around. "What's wrong?"

"Harmony. She teleported out of the TARDIS. She could be anywhere in the universe."

"Can't you track her?" I asked, pointing to the console.

"Haven't gotten to that yet." He said, turning the screen to face him and me. He started pressing some buttons, and symbols began to appear on the screen.

"She is in the year 2000 on the planet... why would she be there?" The Doctor questioned, pulling some switches.

"Where is she?" I asked, leaning against the railing.

"She's on the planet Calbris. The planet has been completely empty for centuries. No people, no animals, nothing. Just a bunch of grass."

"Why don't people settle there?"

"It has harsh weather conditions. It is incredibly windy, and it rains three quarters of the year. The other quarter is very cold. Nobody would ever want to live there. Even if they did, they would never be able to start communities in the harsh weather."

"Why do you want to get Harmony back so badly?"

The Doctor sighed. "Her human self is still living on inside of her. She'll still have feelings that she had when she was a human."

"Like?"

"She was getting angry about Alec, and missing her father. Her human father." The Doctor answered.

"How will that affect her?"

"Not necessarily in a detrimental way, but I don't want her to have to worry about it."

I looked at him and smiled slyly. "There's something more."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "She's the only other Time Lord out there, even though she is genetically mutated."

"So she isn't just a science project?"

The TARDIS started to shake, and we both grabbed the console for support. When it stopped moving, the Doctor ran to the door. I followed after him, and he opened the door. Immediately, a large gust of wind blew both of us back into the TARDIS, making us grasp the railing for support. The Doctor quickly shut the door.

"I can see why she came here." The Doctor said, running up to the console. "Maybe I can pinpoint her exact location so we can travel right to that area." He began pressing a few buttons, and soon he clapped his hands together. "Yes! She's in a... building. What is she doing in a building? There are no buildings on Calbris!"

I walked up to the console to look at the screen. Sure enough, the TARDIS was showing readings that Harmony was indeed inside a building.

The Doctor shrugged and pulled another switch. "Guess we're going to the only building on Calbris."

The TARDIS jolted for a moment, then stopped. The Doctor ran back down to the doors and opened them. He stared at whatever was outside for a few seconds, until I ran down from the console to see what he was looking at.

We were inside the building, and it was filled with people. The people were lined in individual cells, looking either angry or bored. The cells were simple; they only consisted of a bench and a not very comfortable-looking pillow.

I looked at the Doctor, who only mumbled, "It's a... prison."

**

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Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter. I hope my imagining of what the TARDIS library would look like was pretty good. Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Ah! Sorry for not updating this week! Once again, I got a bit blocked as to what to write in this chapter. I ended up writing a one-shot yesterday, and I guess it helped un-block my mind, though I'm not completely confident this chapter turned out well. I also apologize that it's shorter than usual, but I will do my best to have another chapter up in the next few days. Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. **

The Doctor walked out of the TARDIS and started to look around. "I guess that makes sense; instead of using space on your planet, send all of your prisoners to a completely different planet."

"Like Georgia?" I asked. "It was started for debtors."

"Not exactly." The Doctor said, walking back to me. "Georgia was started so debtors could pay off their debts and start their life over." He looked around and the prison cells. "I think that these people were just left here to die."

"Well, wouldn't they get released eventually?"

"There aren't any guards." He pointed down the hall to a doorway. "I don't think there's anybody here."

"How are they keeping the prisoners locked up?"

The Doctor knelt down and picked up a stone that was on the floor. He threw it at one of the cells, and it bounced off of the electrical shield that had been placed around it.

"So they just leave them here to die." I stated sadly.

"They've probably committed crimes that involve life sentence." He said. "Now why would Harmony be here?"

The Doctor scoped the room, until he locked his eyes on one of the cells in the back of the room. I tried to realize its significance as I followed him to it, and I finally did; the cell was empty, unlike the rest of the cells.

"It's empty." He said. "They wouldn't have an empty cell in a place they don't intend to visit again."

I looked around the room and noticed that the prisoners weren't looking at us. They were just sitting quietly in their cells, tracing words on the wall or just being in pensive thought. "Why don't they notice us?" I asked the Doctor.

The Doctor looked up at the other cells. "Maybe the electrical field is blocking out outer occurrences. You can go try talking to one of them, if you'd like."

I gave him a curious look, and he just shrugged. I turned around and walked to the cell across from the cell the Doctor was investigating. A man - or a creature that looked like a human male - who appeared to be not much older than twenty sat facing the wall. I kneeled down in front of the cell.

"Hello?" I said quietly. The man didn't respond. "Hello?" I repeated, louder this time. "Sir?" I said very loudly. He finally turned around, shocked at my appearance, and inched toward me.

"Who are you?" He asked in a deep, gruff voice. He had messy black hair and dark blue eyes. He had some stubble, but somehow looked hygienical.

"I-I'm Erin." I said quietly. "You are?"

"Alatros, but you can call me Al." He said, his face looking a bit brighter. He examined my face quickly, then asked, "You from Sto, too?"

"Erm, no." I said awkwardly. "I'm from Earth."

"No way!" He exclaimed quietly. "It's nearly impossible for someone from Sto to get here, let alone somebody from _Earth_." He said, as if referring to a primitive species, though I suppose through the eyes of other alien creatures, humans _are _fairly primitive.

"Well, I had some help." I pointed to the Doctor, who was still examining the cell.

"He from Earth too?"

"Not really."

"Where's he from, then?"

I bit my lip, unsure if I should reveal the Doctor's home planet. "Not completely sure." I replied, which wasn't a complete lie. I had no idea where exactly Gallifrey was.

"What are you two doing here, then?" Al asked. "Trying to break someone out? No one's tried that; no one on this floor, at least."

"We're trying to find someone. She isn't a prisoner; she just sort of... popped in here. Did you see a girl do that?"

"Can't really see much out of this cell." He said. "I hear you, and I can see you, but I don't really see a lot."

I heard the Doctor stand up and walk over next to us. "The electric field is upgraded with a perception filter; it's completely unnecessary, but it could possibly be there to prevent contact with the other prisoners."

"How can he see me, then?"

"You only see through it when it's something you really want to see."

I looked back at Al, then at the Doctor. "What did you find out about the cell?"

"It appears that Harmony ended up in there, and as she tried to leave, the prisoner grabbed a ride." The Doctor looked back at the cell. "There isn't really any other explanation possible."

"And that means it's bad that there's a prisoner out of the cell."

"Well, they can't do too much outside of here if they escape the prison. But, the prisoner could possibly force Harmony to take him somewhere, knowing what she is capable of."

I widened my eyes. The Doctor looked at Al. "Do you know who was in that cell?"

"Not personally, but he was involved in the huge massacre that nearly destroyed the government on Perya, Sto's colony planet. Oh, and he revealed government secrets to our military enemies."

"Wonderful." The Doctor muttered.

A second later, I heard running down the hallway. I looked to see that Harmony was running into the room. As soon as she saw the Doctor and me, she gasped, and shut her eyes.

"Oh no you don't!" The Doctor grabbed my hand quickly and grasped her arm, and we found ourselves on a completely different floor of the prison a moment later.

"Ugh! Why can't you just leave me alone?" Harmony complained loudly as she ripped her arm from the Doctor's grasp and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms defiantly.

"Because you obviously can't be trusted." The Doctor said quietly.

"I can be trusted; you just wait." She uncrossed her arms. "I'm guessing you noticed that I let a prisoner out.. I lost him. But we're on Calbris, so he can't really do anything, right?"

"Don't speak too quickly." The Doctor answered. "This guy is smart."

"How do you know?"

"Somebody told me the crimes he committed. He'd have to be somewhat smart if he wanted to do all of that."

"Well, he can't have gotten too far."

"Where did you see him last?"

"Actually, on this floor." She looked around. "He was heading for the main floor."

"To the main floor, then!" He started to run to the stairs, and Harmony and I followed him.

Suddenly, we were stopped by a large metal door slamming down before us. We stopped, and realized that a metal door had slammed behind us as well.

"I thought no one was here?" I said as I gazed around at our current situation.

"The system is automated." The Doctor answered. "That's how they get food to the prisoners. It detected intruders and is handling them."

"So we're just going to sit in here?"

"The system most likely sent a distress signal to the planet that placed this prison here, and they're going to take care of us."

"Great." I muttered angrily. "Won't the prisoner be captured as well?"

"Possibly." The Doctor paused. "If he's able to escape, then he can get past the system."

"What are we going to do?"

"Well, it's probably already sent the distress signal, so we can either wait here and get arrested, or we can escape and find the prisoner to be recaptured when they arrive."

"I pick the second choice." Harmony interjected.

"I suspected that." The Doctor said with a small smile on his face. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the electric field around the walls. He pressed the button, and an electric shock from the wall surged into his arm, causing him to yelp in pain and throw the screwdriver on the ground.

"Ow!" He exclaimed loudly. "The field prohibits sonic devices to counteract it. Should've thought of that."

"So we're stuck?" Harmony asked. "No problem, we can just-"

"That isn't going to work, either." The Doctor interrupted. "The system detects that you have TARDIS technology in your body, and it will block that from working as well."

"So we really are stuck." Harmony groaned, leaning against the wall.

"For the time being, yes."


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.**

"Well, how are we going to get out?" I questioned.

The Doctor stood up and examined the fifteen-by-ten area that we were trapped in. "We'll use our resources."

"What resources do we have?" Harmony asked.

"Well, none at the moment." He answered, but walked to the other end of the room and tapped a small silver door in the center of the wall. "But, we do have this little box that could possibly hold the key to getting us out of here."

Harmony and I both smiled, and the Doctor attempted to pull the door off. After a few moments of pulling, he let go and breathed.

"So your screwdriver can't operate as a normal screwdriver? How convenient." Harmony muttered.

"Hey." He responded defensively. "My screwdriver is a lot better than a normal screwdriver."

Harmony rolled her eyes and walked over to the Doctor, lightly pushing him out of the way. She dug her fingernails in between the screws and the door, and eventually pulled them out slightly. She began to slowly unscrew them.

"Oi!" The Doctor complained. "I could've done that!"

"But you didn't." Harmony said, smirking.

The Doctor crossed his arms as Harmony finished unscrewing the screws, and finally opened the door. The Doctor began running his fingers over the various wires and switches, determining which one to configure or flip. He finally pulled two switches downward, one upward, and pulled out a wire. A moment later, the electric field surrounding us disappeared.

"Yes!" We all yelled simultaneously. We began running the other direction toward the stairs.

"Would he be out on the planet?" Harmony asked.

"Quite possibly." The Doctor said as we ran down the stairs to the main floor. As we stopped on the main floor to see where the prisoner had fled, we heard the doors open, and about twenty-five policeman ran inside.

"Intruders!" One of the ones in the back yelled.

The policeman standing in the front took out his badge and showed it to us. "You are trespassing on property of the Petrast Union,"

"A country on the planet Sto." The Doctor whispered.

"You will be arrested for your crimes." He said, walking up to us with handcuffs.

"Sorry, but that's not happening anytime soon." The Doctor said, running across the other end of the room as we quickly followed after him. Half of the policemen began to follow after us as well.

"What are we supposed to do?" I yelled to the Doctor as we entered a corridor.

"We have to get back to the TARDIS." He responded, halting at the end of the hallway where an elevator was positioned. He pressed his screwdriver against the button, and waved his hand anxiously at his side, aware that the policemen weren't too far behind us.

Finally, the doors opened, and we rushed inside, managing to get them shut just before the policemen reached us. The Doctor pressed one of the buttons on the panel and leaned against the wall.

"Once we get to the TARDIS, we can just leave." The Doctor said. "They'll take care of the prisoner."

I decided not to argue as the elevator doors opened, and the TARDIS waited ahead of us. We ran down the corridor past the prisoners and quickly entered the TARDIS. The Doctor ran to the console and began pressing buttons, holding Harmony's arm to prevent her from escaping.

He continued to change the controls, but we still remained stationary. He kept hitting buttons with a worried look on his face, but we didn't move. He knelt down and began examining the area beneath the console, and groaned loudly.

"What?" I asked.

"The fluid link is missing." He muttered loudly.

"Uh oh." Harmony said, crossing her arms.

"What is the fluid link?" I questioned.

"Basically," The Doctor started, getting up, "without it, we can't go anywhere."

"Great." I sighed.

"But it can't just disappear. Somebody would have needed to be in here." Harmony said.

"But how?" The Doctor asked, starting to look genuinely worried.

"Did you leave the door unlocked?"

"I don't remember! I didn't exactly suspect anybody to be walking around here."

"It must have been the prisoner, then."

"I guess we need to go back out there." I said.

"They'll arrest us. Even if we don't go back out there, they'll see the giant blue box in the middle of the room and take it back to their planet."

"There's still the perception filter. Maybe they won't notice the TARDIS." The Doctor said hopefully.

We heard footsteps outside of the door slowly approaching the TARDIS. "How did this get here?"

"I dunno. What should we do with it?"

"How am I supposed to know? Do you think the prisoners are inside?"

Someone pressed against the door, but couldn't get it open. He sighed. "It's locked."

"We should just report it to Restrav, then. He'll probably have it sent back to Petrast for investigation." He tapped on the outside. "Looks like something from Earth. It would certainly make a nice museum piece."

They began to walk away, and the Doctor leaned against the console. "Now would be a good time to search for the fluid link."

He slowly opened the door and checked to see if anybody was waiting outside. He motioned for us to follow him, and we exited the TARDIS.

"Alright, we should split up to search for the prisoner." The Doctor whispered. "Harmony can cover more ground quickly, but I need to trust that you won't go running off."

"I won't." She muttered.

"Alright, Harmony, you need to search the first three floors. Erin, you search the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors, and I will take the last four."

"Wait - what are we supposed to do if we find it?" I asked.

"Find one of us. More likely Harmony, then she can find me." He started to walk down the hall, and Harmony shut her eyes and disappeared.

"Wait!" I called to the Doctor. He spun around quickly and looked at me, waiting for me to speak.

"How exactly am I supposed to stop the prisoner if I find him?" I asked.

The Doctor hesitated, thinking. "You have a point. Hold on a moment." He ran to the TARDIS and unlocked it, running inside. After a moment of waiting, he came back outside, this time holding what appeared to be a small gun.

"Here you go." He handed to me. "A sonic blaster. Hopefully it will be of some assistance to you."

"What exactly does it do?" I asked.

"A lot of things. Mostly, it just makes square-shaped holes in the wall."

"Nice." I said, slightly disappointed. I looked back up at him. "You actually trust me with this?"

"It's not mine; it's a friend's. Just don't break it or anything important, and I'll be fine."

"Thanks." I said quietly.

He nodded, and started to walk toward the hallway. I looked at the elevator, where a silver _6_ was printed next to it. I guess I'd better start investigating, I thought. I walked behind the TARDIS to a hallway behind the prison cells, and flicked through the settings on the blaster so it would operate as a light in the dark hallway. I held it next to my shoulder as I slowly walked through the dark hallway, passing various doors and signs. I decided to investigate each of the rooms individually; I walked to the first door on the left and used the sonic blaster to break the lock, and entered.

It was simply a custodial closet, with nothing more than a few brooms and mops occupying the space. I thought that it seemed pretty impractical to have a cleaning closet in a place you never plan to visit again. I shrugged as I searched through the room's contents, in hopes of finding the fluid link without crossing paths with the prisoner.

Of course, I did not find the link. I sighed as I stood back up and exited the room. I looked at the small chunk of the door that was no longer present due to the sonic blaster, and felt slightly guilty for leaving it that way. I shrugged it off and continued to the next room.

The next room I entered was more like a pantry, with large boxes of prepackaged foods lining the walls. In the back of the room was a large table with boxes of food piled on it, with an oblong tube leading out of the room to various parts of the prison. In front of the table was a small silver... robot. A robot?

I slowly approached the robot, holding the blaster up in defense. "Hello?" I called. It didn't respond. As I reached the table, I tapped the robot, and it fell over onto the table.

It appeared that the robot was used to prepare the food for the prisoners, for a plate with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich lay prepared beneath it. I wasn't convinced that it was completely inert, so I placed the sonic blaster to its back, and slowly pulled it up. To my shock, its metal chest had been ripped off, and several parts appeared to be missing.

So the prisoner had been in here. I shivered as I began searching between boxes for the possibility of the link. Once again, it wasn't anywhere in that room. I sighed as I walked out of the room and entered the one across the hall.

This room was another pantry, but it appeared that the robot was still working, as prepared meals shot up the tube. I slowly began to near the robot, holding the blaster in front of me. As I reached the table, it turned to me.

"Hello." It said in a monotonous tone. "How may I be of assistance?"

"Umm, has somebody been in here before me?" I asked.

"You are the first life form to enter this room for the past three years." It sighed. "This job is very lonely."

"I'm sorry." I said, patting its back. I soon realized that I was comforting a _robot_, and stopped. "Um, do you know what happened to the robot in the room over there?"

"012463?" It said, turning its head to me. "I have not spoken to any robot in this unit for the past three years."

"Well, umm, does anything indicate that somebody has been in there?"

The robot paused, then answered, "There are no cameras in that room, so I cannot be sure."

I sighed, realizing that this wasn't helping.

"But, I do have a link to his hard drive. I could see what events have occurred most recently."

"That would be helpful." I said gratefully.

The robot paused, again, then turned to the door. His eyes glowed white, and an image appeared in the middle of the air. It showed the robot working from its point of view, with it just repeatedly unwrapping sandwiches and placing them on plates, then sending them into the tube.

Suddenly, there was a noise. The robot turned around, and a tall figure stood at the door. He held up a gun, and began walking quickly to the robot. "Shut up and this will be quick." He said in a gruff voice. He grabbed the chest of the robot and ripped off the silver panel, holding it under his arm. He ripped a wire, and everything went black.

The robot turned off the screen, and blinked. "The life form registers as familiar. He is a prisoner."

"Yes, I know that." I said. "Do you have any weapons around here better than this?" I held up the blaster. "It only breaks locks and makes square holes."

"The unit does not hold weapons, for it is a prison, and the Petrast Union feels it is unnecessary to store them."

I scoffed. "Yet they put in a cleaning supply closet."

I looked at the robot. "How come you don't register me as an intruder?"

"You are not on the prisoner file, and it is impossible for anybody but the Petrast Union police force to enter this building. Though I am questioning your presence." It turned to me once more. "Are you an intruder?"

"Nope." I said. "Thank you for the assistance... what's your name?"

"012746." It said.

"That's not really a name." I said. "How about... Marvin?" I said, remembering a science fiction book I had read as a teenager.

"Marvin..." It trailed off, deep in thought.

I smiled. "Goodbye, Marvin."

I shut the door behind me as I continued down the hall. As I started to remove the lock on another door, a hand covered my mouth, while another arm wrapped around my chest. Before I could realize what was happening, I was being dragged to a different room.

**Author's Note: I may not be able to update as often these coming weeks. I'm going to have a lot going on from now until the middle of March, but I will try to write as much as I can. Please review! **


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: Argh, it's been almost a month since I've updated, and I apologize. Lots going on, and still trying to figure out where exactly to go with the story equal little time spent on writing, and this update being so overdue. I still have another month of alot of things going on, and then I go on vacation at the end of March, but I think I'll still be able to update at least a little bit during those periods. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to review.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who**

**

* * *

**I attempted to bite the hand that covered my mouth, and though it flinched, it did not move. Finally, the hands let go of me, and let me fall against the floor. I looked up at my kidnapper, who was shutting the door.

Before I could get anything out of my mouth, my kidnapper turned around. "You can't just go lurking about!" He said with a heavy British accent.

"Who are you?" I asked.

He looked at me with a curious look on his face, then it snapped with realization. "Oh, right." He said. He muttered something under his breath, then said, "I'm Derek. I was sent here to get you."

"Get me? For what?"

"She didn't tell you?" He said, resting his chin on his knuckles.

He finally groaned. "Too early in her timeline." He muttered.

"What?"

"Never mind. I shouldn't even be here." He tossed me the sonic blaster, then placed his hand on his wrist, winking at me. "See you soon."

"Wait!" I cried, but it was too late. He had already disappeared.

I sighed, grasping the sonic blaster in my hand. As I stood up again, Derek materialized in the room again. I stared at him in awe, but he looked angry. "What?"

"Who are you?" I repeated.

He sighed. "I told you; I'm Derek."

"Yes, I got that. But what are you doing here?"

"Oh my gosh." He muttered, pressing a finger to his ear. "She-" he started, but was cut off for a moment. "Isn't that a bad idea?" He paused again. "I hate paradoxes." He grumbled, bringing his hand back to his side. "I've been sent here to help you, but I came to the wrong place."

"But I'm here." I said, confused.

"I know, but I'm supposed to be meeting you somewhere else." He said. "Not right now, but I'm supposed to meet you later."

"You said paradoxes." I recalled, "You're a time traveler."

"That's so creepy." He said with a smile. "You understand all of this, and you're just new to this."

"I've had my research." I said, not willing to admit my dreams.

"I know about your dreams, Erin." He said quietly. "In fact, somebody close-" He was cut off, and I heard loud noises coming from his ear bud. He pressed his finger to his ear again. "Sorry."

I gave him a curious look, but he just continued. "You'll figure it out eventually. Anyway, you're in danger here. The prisoner is making a device to break past the isomorphic controls of the TARDIS, and is going to steal it. You have to get back to the Doctor and Harmony and leave."

"We can't leave without the fluid link, though."

He reached his right hand into his pocket, and pulled out something small that looked like what the fluid link would be. I grinned, and he tossed it to me. "I'll take you to Harmony, but then I have to go. I can't let Harmony see me."

"Why not?"

"She can't meet me yet." He said quietly, linking his arm through mine, then pressing his hand against his wrist. I shut my eyes, and a moment later, we were on the second floor.

"She should be down there." He pointed toward the end of the hallway. He then looked at me. "Don't tell anyone about this meeting, or it will cause trouble."

I nodded, and he kissed my forehead quickly, before dematerializing in front of me.

I was puzzled as to why he did that, but I started jogging down the hallway. I pushed open an opened door, and saw Harmony searching through the shelves. She turned around as I opened the door, and smiled as I held up the fluid link.

"Where did you find it?" She asked excitedly as she grabbed my arm.

"Upstairs." I answered. I shut my eyes as the ground below me disappeared, and we appeared in front of the TARDIS.

"How are we going to get the Doctor here?" I asked.

"Hold on." She put her hand on the TARDIS, and shut her eyes. "The Doctor's key will receive a signal, and hopefully he will realize we're here."

Sure enough, a moment later the Doctor came running from the staircase to us. "You have the link?"

I nodded, and he grinned. "Brilliant!" He exclaimed, giving me a quick hug. I gave it to him, and he ran into the TARDIS and knelt beneath the console. Harmony and I walked in behind him, ready to leave, but he sat back up with a disappointed look on his face.

"It's empty. We need mercury in it if we want to move." He stood up and ran outside of the TARDIS. "Did either of you see any mercury?"

We followed him as Harmony answered, "There's some on the third floor, I believe."

"Let's go then!" He and I grabbed Harmony's arms, and we appeared in a dark closet a moment later.

"I saw various canisters of liquids back here." She motioned to the other end of the room, and the Doctor followed her.

I started to look at the items shelved along the wall. It was mostly boxes, but there were a few clear containers with odd-looking contraptions in them. They must be alien, I thought. I was tempted to open them and examine them closely, but I knew we needed to move on as soon as possible.

Then, I came across a box exactly like the others, but for some reason, I was inclined to reach inside. I reached my hand inside, and pulled out a small silver canister. The number _20.12_ was engraved on the top, with the word _mercury_ printed in black letters.

"Jackpot." I whispered. I turned to the Doctor and Harmony and cried, "I've found it!"

The Doctor spun around, and as soon as he saw the canister of mercury, he jumped in the air like a child.

"Brilliant, Erin, absolutely brilliant!" He exclaimed gleefully, running over to me and taking the canister from my hand. He looked back down at me. "You're doing pretty well today."

"Harmony slowly walked over and examined the canister while the Doctor was holding it."That wasn't there when I searched that box." She said quietly. "The only things that were in there were a few cans of food."

The Doctor's face fell slightly. "So it could have been placed here moments ago." He looked at me, then back to Harmony. "You're not saying she…"

"Not necessarily." She said, eyeing me. "But it is certainly possible."

"Or someone could have placed it there as a trap. "The Doctor said. I silently thanked him for trusting me.

"Who?" Harmony questioned.

"Well, it wasn't me." An unfamiliar voice said from behind us. I turned around and saw a tall, stocky man standing in the shadows.

"It wasn't me, but I certainly thank you for finding it." He then bolted from the shadows and ripped the canister from the Doctor's hand, then ran to the door.

"Oh no, you don't." The Doctor muttered as he quickly pulled his screwdriver from his pocket and pointed at the door, causing it to lock.

"You think I came unprepared?" The man said, ripping a knife from his pocket, and began to slide it between the door.

Without much though, Harmony ran to the man and without much effort pulled him away from the door, ripped the knife from his hand, and pushed him to the ground.

The man smiled weakly in defeat. The Doctor walked over to him and kneeled next to him. "Why are you trying to steal our mercury?" He asked quietly.

"It wasn't your mercury." The man protested.

"Stop trying to start an argument, and answer my questions." The Doctor instructed.

"Now, what's your name?"

"Edison Teer of the Petrast Union."

"And why did you break out of your cell when our friend landed there?"

"Why would anybody want to break out of prison?" Edison said. "Because it's the worst place to end up. I have a wife and three children; how do you think they feel about this?"

"I doubt they were in your mind when you committed those federal crimes."

"Shut up!" Edison yelled. "I did it for them."

The Doctor paused, allowing him to explain.

"Don't you understand that the Petrast Union is one of the worst places on Sto to live?" He said. "Its government is this horrible tyranny. They throw so many people in prison for simply having different opinions than them. Why do you think they've placed six different prisons on this planet? They ran out of room; they're going to start burning people if they can't find any more room to imprison people."

"Sto isn't the best planet to live on in general." Harmony commented. "I remember visiting there and seeing the riots in the street and the burning of random houses of their citizens."

The Doctor looked at Edison for a moment, then said. "There are better ways to solve political problems than to betray your country like that."

"What else could I do?" Edison exclaimed. "People were dying in those riots. If the soldiers were off the streets solving real problems, they'd leave us alone."

The Doctor sighed, and rested his chin on his knuckles. "I can't just let you go. Your country may be in a bad state, but that doesn't give you the leeway to betray it and cause massacres on other planets." He paused, and Edison's face began to fall. "But, you did it for the sake of your country and your family." The Doctor groaned as he buried his face in his hands.

"Some sort of compromise, maybe?" I suggested after a moment's silence.

The Doctor looked at me. "For example?"

"Well, you could bring him back to Sto, and he and his family could bear new identities."

The Doctor hesitated, then looked at Harmony. "What's your input?"

She shrugged. "Seems like a fair compromise."

"Alright, then." The Doctor stood up and looked at Edison. "What do you think?"

"I'd still be forced to live in Petrast."

"You could start campaigns there, and your work could pay off." The Doctor said encouragingly. Harmony walked over to him and whispered something in his ear, and he smiled. "It won't last forever. I promise you that."

Edison smiled a half smile. "Thank you."

"We should get going, then." Harmony said. "I reckon they're searching these halls by now, so we should just get out of here this way." She grabbed Edison's hand and pulled him up, still grasping his hand. The Doctor grabbed her arm, and I held onto his. A moment later, we were standing in the TARDIS.

"Where did you find this thing?" Edison said as he started walking around the console room. "I thought these things were only legends."

"Oh, I knew where to look." The Doctor answered. He began pressing the buttons on the console, and we grasped the railing for support as it landed.

"It's right outside." The Doctor said.

"Thank you so much." Edison said. "I will forever be grateful."

The Doctor nodded, and Edison exited the TARDIS. As soon as the doors were shut, he grasped Harmony's arm, and pressed a button on the console. He then looked at Harmony. "Please don't leave again. This is going to get very tedious if you do it again."

She ripped her arm from his grasp. "I don't need your help. Please, just leave me alone."

"There are still problems." He protested. "I don't want you getting hurt."

"Fine, then." Harmony said. "Let's make another compromise. If I find that something is wrong, I will contact you, alright?"

"That's not good enough." The Doctor said. "I don't want you running across the universe causing havoc."

She let out a short laugh. "You really don't trust me, do you?"

The Doctor just glared at her.

She rolled her eyes. "You can lock onto my TARDIS signal. See where I'm going, and if you're really nosy, what I'm doing exactly. If you feel there's something wrong, then come on over and stop me."

The Doctor sighed, while Harmony simply smiled. "Fine. Don't get into any trouble, though." The Doctor said.

"You're one to talk." Harmony smiled. She gave him a hug and walked into the center of the room. She looked at me, and quietly said, "I'll see you soon, I'm sure," then disappeared from the room.

"What did she mean by that?" I asked.

"You're probably going to end up seeing her later on in your timeline." The Doctor said, pressing more buttons on the console. "Where to next, then? Any place you're interested in visiting?"

"I still haven't gotten to that concert yet." I said.

The Doctor chuckled. "Well, after all the places you've been so far, do you really want to just go to a concert?"

"Yes." I smiled.

He laughed. "Anywhere else?"

I hesitated, thinking about historical events that I had always been fascinated in. "How about the World's Columbian Exposition?"

"Sounds great." He said with a small smile, pulling a switch and pressing two buttons.


End file.
